From White Fang to Phantom Thief
by FinchFlyingAce
Summary: Everyone knows Adam Taurus as Blake's ex-partner, and that he's kind of a douche. So what's he going to do when some crazy, magical teenager decides that Adam needs to be punished/have what is essentially a redemption arc? Thrown into a world where Faunus don't exist, Adam has two choices: 1. Keep his head down as he serves his probation, or 2. Steal the hearts of the wicked.
1. Prologue

**11/20/20XX**

It's a clear night as a helicopter is seen flying over a large body of water as it approaches a brightly lit city, filled with towering skyscrapers. As it enters the city, it heads directly to what is easily the most brightly lit building: A casino, complete with neon lights depicting sexy women in cowboy hats and boots, one holding a pair of scales with one of the dishes being heavily weighed down by a vertical 'WIN'. Within the casino itself, a man knocks over a stack of poker chips as a scream and an alarm bell are heard. People are murmuring things like 'there's something here' as some are running away or looking around nervously as a dark figure wearing a long coat can be seen flitting about the ceiling in the corner of their eyes. It's only when three men wearing black suits enter the room that the figure lands on one of the large, hanging lights, and allows itself to be seen clearly.

The figure is revealed to be a teenage boy, a bit less than six feet tall, and looks about sixteen or seventeen years old. He had fair skin, and hair that spiked backwards in a windswept way. Its coloration was mostly red with the back and a few streaks being brown. His outfit is certainly a strange one. The most prominent part of his ensemble is his black, ankle-length trench coat. As mentioned before, it was black, mostly. On the front of the left shoulder, there was a red design with a white symbol over it. The bottom had red, flame-like accents, and the back had a white floral pattern with a bright red wilting rose emblem overlayed on top, the sleeves were slit, and the coat was red on the interior. The coat was unbuttoned to reveal a dark gray, high-necked waistcoat with red and gold accents. He also wore black pants with a sword that was currently in a scabbard at his side, and dark brown cuban heeled shoes. His hands were covered with black gloves that each had a bright red 'Ω' (Omega) on the back. In those hands he held a shiny, metal briefcase tucked under one arm. What brings the whole outfit together is the mask he's wearing. The mask is whitish-tan with red horn symbols decorating it and covers the top half of his face, with there being two slots on either side to allow for vision.

"Hey, up there!" shouted one of the patrons. One of the men in black spoke into an earpiece.

"He's here. Move in immediately." The mask-and-trench-coat wearing boy smirked before jumping off to the next light fixture. After he did that, he hears a voice in his head.

 **(Begin Persona 5 OST: Life Will Change)**

"Good. Now get running!" came the voice of what sounded like a young boy speaking through a radio.

"This is our only chance!" said a new voice, also sounding like it was a boy speaking through a radio, although this one sounded more like a teenager.

"Stay calm!" said a girl's voice, "You can get away now!"

"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end." said a different girl's voice, this one sounding slightly older than the first. The red haired boy nodded.

"Hear you loud and clear, guys." the boy than tilted his head in confusion, what was he hearing just now? It sounded like a radio transmission, but it didn't seem to be his group.

"… suspects… not… confirmed… hold… your… positions…"

"Hm…? What was that…?" wondered the first female voice. Before anyone could think on it any further, the boyish voice from before spoke up again.

"Don't worry about us." he assured the red haired boy, "Just concentrate on getting away!" The red haired boy nodded again as he started to run, jumping from light fixture to light fixture as the voices continued to talk.

"But I have to say, showing yourself above that crowd earlier was an excellent move." continued the boyish voice, "Nice work as always, Joker."

"I bet Skull wouldn't pull it off that smoothly." added another new, female, voice with a laugh.

"This happens because you have no sense for aesthetics." agreed a another voice, this one also sounded like a teenage boy, but was also more refined than the previous one.

"Nobody asked you, Inari!" snapped the male voice now identified as 'Skull'. 'Joker' couldn't help but smile at the voices and antics of his fellow thieves, until the voice of an agent on a balcony ahead of him caught his attention.

"There he is!" the agent shouted, summoning two more agents in the process.

"Just run! Get out of there!" shouted the first female voice as 'Joker' stopped his run and took an impromptu left.

"What do you think I'm trying to do, Oracle?" he grumbled.

"OK, the enemy's focus is on him. Looks like the rest of us can slip away." the Boyish Voice chimed in.

"That's the plan, Mona." 'Joker' replied, nodding as he jump across more hanging lights.

"Everyone remember where we're meeting up?" asked a fourth female voice.

"No worries, I can guide you all." replied the voice 'Joker' referred to as 'Oracle', as 'Joker' landed on a wall mounted sign reading 'Casino' before hoisting himself up onto a balcony.

"Stop right there!"

"You won't get away!"

… Only to have his escape cut off by two agents appeared at the top of some stairs in front of him. That was annoying enough, but then something very strange happened. The two agents' bodies suddenly contorted for a second before they turned into two… things. They still wore black suits, but now the two men were bigger than most people, and now they carried batons. They also each wore blue, metal masks with glowing yellow eyes. 'Joker' stood up and turned around as a third one dropped behind him from the ceiling. Rather than be afraid, 'Joker' simply smirked.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to do this the hard way." he quipped.

"Take 'em down, Joker!" the third female voice cheered her encouragement.

Taking that as his cue, 'Joker' ran at the third transformed agent. Then, he jumped high into the air and, with an acrobatic flip, landed on the transformed agent's shoulders. From there, he gripped its mask tightly before ripping it off and kicking the transformed agent away from him. The agent did not fall to the ground, but with its mask off its skin was revealed to be pitch black and featureless, except for two red, glowing eyes. The transformed agent began to writhe before it burst into some sort of red and black goop. This goop then transformed into a monster. The monster had the top half of a man with a black bull's head and two black arms with black and white gloves. It's lower half consisted of mechanical legs, and a long, segmented metal tail.

"'The hard way'? Really?" asked 'Oracle', "This thing is _so weak_ , it's not a threat at all!" 'Joker' clicked his tongue in response.

"Just let me have my moment." complained the red haired boy. Right before he had to dodge a column of fire summoned by the Sacrificial Pyrekeeper. Seeing an opening, 'Joker' dashed in and hit the monster with several quick slashes from his sword, revealing it to be a bright red chokutō, until he had jump back to avoid a tail swipe from the creature. Sheathing his sword, 'Joker' smiled at the Sacrificial Pyrekeeper.

"As much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we must part ways." As he said this, 'Joker' brought his hand towards his face, and grabbed his mask.

"Persona!" he cried as he ripped it off.

Now, rather than reveal his face, this caused the mask to burst into a brilliant blue flame (which also appeared on his face, concealing his identity in the process) and called forth a large, winged figure. This being was cloaked in darkness, but you could make out a few features. Such as the fact that it had large wings coming out of its lower back, it seemed to be wearing a top hat, and that it possessed long horns that glowed, along with a Jack o' Lantern like face with eyes and a mouth that also glowed a sinister red. This 'Persona' as it had been called, quickly flew forward and slashed at the Sacrificial Pyrekeeper with its claws as it passed. Continuing its assault, the Persona spun around and brought up one of its legs, which looked like it was clad in a boot with a sharp blade acting as a heel, and brought it down on the monster in front of it, _hard_. The creature roared in pain as it burst into black slime that quickly evaporated.

"OK, pull out before their backup gets here." came the voice of 'Oracle'.

"Good. You defeated them with ease!" the Boyish Voice, or 'Mona', said, relieved.

"Was there ever any doubt?" asked the red haired boy, right before misfortune struck once more.

"More of them!?" 'Oracle' shouted as more transformed agents appeared in front of 'Joker', their appearance surprising even him.

"Be careful!"

One of the transformed agents ran up to 'Joker' and swung at him, its baton visibly crackling with electricity. 'Joker' dodged nimbly by flipping backwards with a handspring, before jumping up onto a nearby column and using it to jump to the next floor.

"Joker, behind you! Go through that door!" instructed 'Oracle', referring to a set of double doors behind him, complete with a green sign reading 'Exit'.

"On it." replied 'Joker' as he dashed through, entering what seemed to be a maintenance hallway filled with large pipes that were behind fencing.

"Alright." said 'Oracle', "You should be able to get out that way! Hurry!"

"Dude can he even hear us!?" asked 'Skull'.

"Don't worry, I'm picking up everyone's voices." 'Oracle' assured him, "Just go Joker!" 'Joker' nodded in response as he took off once more, running down a short hallway covered in decals and stickers and through another set of doors, now entering a hallway with large windows showing the hallway next to it. 'Joker' froze as another agent ran into view on the opposite side of the window, all the guy had to do was look left, and he was screwed. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

"Where'd they go!? Damn it!" he growled before speaking into his earpiece, "I can't confirm the intruder's location." the agent then took off down a hallway to his right, 'Joker' let go of a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding, and started to continue down the hallway. At least until 'Oracle' shouted a warning.

"Up ahead! Stop!" the red haired boy stopped dead as at the other end of the hall was yet _another_ agent.

"This is bad! Hide, Joker!" 'Oracle' panicked. Thinking quickly, 'Joker' hid behind a nearby container.

"You'll never get away if you just keep fighting. Hide in the shadows, and sneak past when you see an opening!" said 'Oracle'.

"I know, I know." responded 'Joker', "This isn't the first time I've done this."

"That's no excuse for you to get careless!" 'Oracle' lectured. Meanwhile, 'Joker' took advantage of the agent's back being turned, and dashed from container to container, getting closer as he did. Right up until he was behind a wall, right behind the agent. From behind his cover, the red haired thief could hear the agent speak into his earpiece.

"…Hey, are you sure he came this way?" he asked, then going silent for a moment as whoever was on the other end spoke to him, "Understood. I will continue the search!" Upon receiving his orders, the agent turned around and ran down the hallway 'Joker' had just come down. Completely missing the teen in the shadows as he ran by.

"Alright! Now's your chance! Run for the stairs!" came the voice of 'Oracle'.

"Got it." 'Joker' stood up from his hiding spot and dashed up the aforementioned stairs.

 **(End Persona 5 OST: Life Will Change)**

Once he ran up, he peered out from behind the wall into the new hallway. Seeing that the coast was clear, he quickly ran down the hall and approached a large window. This window allowed a view into a large control room, filled with people and monitors showing various camera feeds from throughout most of the casino. Peeking into the room, 'Joker' could see one of the people standing and talking into a phone.

"He's not alone!" the man said into the phone, "Find them and kill them all!" Seeing that everyone's back was turned, 'Joker' took the opportunity presented to him and ran past. A trio of agents ran down some stairs and started to run down a hallway, just as 'Joker' came up from below and started to run up the next flight. Unfortunately, one of the agents saw him, notified the others, and the three gave chase.

'Joker' ran up some more stairs and turned down another hallway, seeing a door with an 'exit' sign over it, he went through it. This put him out on a balcony overlooking a large room that seemed to be a dining area for guests. Looking over the railing, the red haired thief tried to locate his exit from the casino.

"Something wrong?" asked the voice of 'Oracle', "The exit should be up ahead." Looking around, 'Joker' saw that the balcony wrapped around the edge of the room, and right ahead of him, on the opposite side the room, was a large and elaborate stained glass window.

"Through there…?" the teenaged thief asked.

"Nnh…! That's just how it is." confirmed 'Oracle', "After that commotion, the bottom floor's-"

"-Completely closed off." finished the second female voice from before, "Hey, can you make it!?" 'Joker' smirked at the question.

"Heh, can I?" he replied.

"…Can you-" 'Skull' started to ask before 'Joker' cut him off.

"Of course I can!" Before that conversation could continue,

"Over there!" the red haired boy turned to look behind him at the sound of the voice, the agents had caught up to him, "There's nowhere to run!" one of them shouted. The agents then began to take a few, slow steps towards 'Joker' with their guns drawn.

"That's what you think." 'Joker' replied with a smirk, before turning back and, to the agents' surprise, hopped up and balanced on the balcony. But, dear reader (or 'readers' hopefully), the surprises don't stop there.

Rather than run while balancing on the balcony like a normal person would expect, 'Joker' gripped not the handle of his sword, but the scabbard. The red haired teenager then pulled a trigger on the scabbard, and with the sound of a gunshot going off, his chokutō shot out of the scabbard and through the air. The butt of the hilt slammed into the stained glass window, causing cracks to spiderweb from the impact. 'Joker' then crouched, and leaped much farther through the air than what should be physically possible. With a quick flip, 'Joker' grabbed his sword out of the air, sheathed it, and landed on the opposite balcony.

"See ya!" he said, smiling at the agents who were gaping at the feat they just witnessed.

Before the agents could gather their wits, the teen turned at jumped, smashing through the cracked window while the people below screamed in fear.

"Hmph, what a showoff." commented 'Oracle'.

"You're _so_ reckless, You know that?" agreed the third female voice while 'Joker' righted himself in midair. Hitting the ground, he quickly rolled to mitigate the impact to his legs while the shards from the window hit the ground and shattered with a quiet twinkling a second later. Just as he stood up, disaster struck in the form of multiple search lights turning on, nearly blinding him in the process, and revealing a virtual _army_ of SWAT and police.

"Enemies, here!?" 'Oracle' cried in disbelief.

"What's wrong!?" 'Skull' asked, worried.

"These readings… It can't be!"

"What happened!?"

"An ambush!?' exclaimed the third female voice.

"Joker, can you handle this!?" 'Mona' inquired, panic evident in his voice as well.

"Joker!" cried 'Inari'.

"Oh no…" fretted the fourth female voice.

"Capture him!" a police officer shouted into a walkie-talkie. Hearing the order, all of the SWAT moved in to engage their target, shouting 'Let's go!' and 'Go! Go! Go!' while they did.

At the same time, 'Joker' took off running. Locating a fire escape, he jumped up and grabbed the bottom rung. He then swung the rest of his body up with the practiced ease of a gymnast. 'Joker' turned his head and smiled teasingly at the SWAT officers who made it to the fire escape, but couldn't reach. Unfortunately, 'Joker' should have instead been looking ahead, at the top of the fire escape. Because when he reached the top, only then did he notice the squad of SWAT operatives waiting for him. Gasping in shock as one of the operatives pulled back his tactical shotgun to hit him with it, 'Joker' heard another voice in his ear. But this one was different from the ones from before, because this one sounded like there was another teenage boy right next to him.

"Oh, that's gonna _hurt_." the voice said sympathetically, and not even a second later, the butt of the shotgun smashed into 'Joker's' face, making him lose his grip on the metal ladder, and sending him down into the mob of SWAT waiting below him.

"Stop struggling!" one of them shouted at him as he was held face down on the ground, arms behind his back.

"Suspect secure!" reported another. It was then that a man who was apparently in charge approached him, although all 'Joker' could see was the man's feet.

"Didn't expect to find some kid." the man commented, going down on one knee, "You have your teammate to thank for this." he grabbed 'Joker' roughly by the hair, lifting his head a little, "You were sold out." 'Joker's' mouth dropped open in shock at the revelation, before gritting his teeth as the man let go of his hair, and allowed his head to fall back to the ground.

"Dammit…" was all he could muster before crying out in pain as his arm was bent behind his back to the point that it was starting to hurt.

"Suspect confirmed! Cuff him!" said the SWAT operative holding him down, and one of the other operatives complied with the order and 'Joker' felt a pair of handcuffs snap around his wrist.

 **-Line Break-**

After that, the only other thing the red haired boy could remember even somewhat clearly was having his mugshot taken. He also no longer wore his outfit with the trench coat. Instead, he now wore a school uniform. The uniform now consisted of a white turtleneck sweater with a small chevron design on the collar. Over the sweater was a black blazer with red buttons and a school emblem on the breast pocket. He also wore black and red plaid trousers with black shoes on his feet. Finally, his mask was off, revealing his eyes to be bright red in color. After his mugshot, he then vaguely remembered being taken to an interrogation room.

 **-Line Break-**

 **(Begin Persona 5 OST: Interrogation Room)**

He couldn't remember for how long, but he remembered being beaten and drugged to the point he passed out. He was then jolted awake by a bucket of cold water being splashed on his face, which was covered in bruises, and he found himself in a metal chair with his hands cuffed behind him. Looking around the room, it was mostly bare except for the seat he was in, and a camera with its red light glowing brightly, a sign that it was recording. There were also three agents in the room, glaring at him.

"No dozing off." ordered the one closest to him. The red haired teenager briefly struggled in his cuffs, trying to get free.

"You still don't get it, do you?" asked the agent, "Give it up!" he yelled, kicking the teenager and sending him crashing to the floor with a gasp of pain. As he groaned in pain and coughed, the agent walked over to him and pressed his shoe onto the side of 'Joker's' head.

"Come on, cooperate." he told the boy, "Or what, you want another shot?" the agent ground his heel into the boy's ear. He then noticed the red haired thief was looking at something across the room. Turning to see what it was, the agent spied the wall mounted security camera.

"Huh? What about the camera? Are you thinking it can be used as video evidence?" the agent asked as he took his foot off 'Joker's' head, knelt down, and roughly lifted his head by his hair. 'Joker' licked his lips, wincing a little as his tongue ran over a few cuts and splits, before answering.

"Of course not… not with my luck." he groaned out.

"So you're not that dumb." the agent nodded, before throwing the boy's head to the ground, hard, "Which is good, 'cause we get to take as much time as we NEED!" the agent punctuated the 'need' with a swift kick to the teenage thief's stomach, causing him to gasp and wheeze. While he writhed on the ground, the agent walked over to one of the other two, who handed him a clipboard that he began to read off of.

"Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons…" he listed before turning back to the teenager, "Manslaughter too, yeah? Talk about the works." he indicated the clipboard in his hand, not noticing that 'Joker' stiffened and gritted his teeth in response to hearing the Manslaughter charges.

"To think that all those crimes were lead by a punk like this…" the agent continued, "And you seemed to be enjoying every second of it… Huh?"

 _I was… enjoying it…?_ The boy thought through the drug-induced haze that clouded his mind, _Everything's hazy… I can't remember… the hell did they inject me with?_ The agent shook his head.

"…You should know your place." he said, before nodding towards the boy. This was apparently a cue for the other agents to go over to 'Joker' and uncuff him, before roughly turning him over so that he was now sitting up. The agent with the clipboard came over as the red haired teenager rubbed his wrists, where the cuffs had been so tight they had been cutting into his skin.

"Sign here." the agent told him, holding out the clipboard, "It's a confession under your name." 'Joker' said nothing, but instead chose to weakly smack the clipboard away with his hand.

"I see…" the agent said as he stood up, almost sounding disappointed, "I need your hand to sign this but…" he gave the teenager a dark look before stomping down on his leg, making 'Joker' let out a pained howl, "I don't care if you end up losing a _leg_." he threatened, grinding his heel into 'Joker's' leg.

'Joker' grit his teeth and glared angrily at the agent before the grinding stopped. The agent knelt down once more and offered the clipboard again, 'Joker' remained silent, but took the clipboard this time. The agent then reached into the breast pocket on his suit and took out a silver pen that shone in the dim light of the interrogation room. Before the teenager could take the pen, he came face to face with the agent.

"Don't expect to walk out of here in one piece." the agent warned, "We are going to make you understand… _One must take full responsibility for their actions_ …" 'Joker' took the pen and stared wordlessly at the man, trying to remember why that phrase sounded so familiar, before turning his attention to the clipboard.

Clicking the pen, he scrawled out his name: Adam Taurus.

 **-Line Break-**

Adam didn't know how much time had passed since then, but he knew that some time later he heard voices outside the interrogation room. One of them sounded like a woman, and she seemed to be having a bit of a disagreement with the guards outside. Whatever the argument was about, she apparently won, as she was allowed in a few minutes later and sat down, crossing her arms. Since he had signed the confession, another chair had been added to the interrogation room, along with a metal table.

"…I didn't expect it'd be you." she said, a small amount of shock evident in her voice. Adam said nothing and simply stared at the woman in front of him. He knew who she was, it was a little difficult to remember right away since he was still feeling the effects of the drugs, but he knew that this was Sae Niijima, of the Public Prosecutors Office. Sae had long, gray hair that was kept asymmetrically parted on her right side and her eyes were brown with a hint of red. She wore a black business suit with a black turtleneck. Around her neck she wore a necklace depicting a '§' (a section sign), she also had black earrings, dark hairpins, and her nails were painted with violet nail polish. She wore black high heels on her feet that clicked on the floor as she walked.

"You'll be answering my questions this time." she continued, adopting an air of professionalism. She then noticed an empty syringe on the ground.

"Those bastards…" she muttered under her breath, before turning back to Adam and leaning forward, "Can you hear me? It seems you've been through a lot. Almost anything can happen here… and I can't stop them." confident that she had gotten her warning across, she leaned back in the chair, "That's why I need you to answer me honestly. I don't have much time either. What was your objective? Why did you cause such a major incident?"

Adam remained silent under the rapid fire questions.

"I didn't think it was a prank from the get-go, but I couldn't assemble a case for prosecution." Sae explained, "It's because I couldn't figure out the method behind it." This time, Adam spoke up.

"Does it really matter if you know or not?…?" he asked.

"This isn't an issue of whether or not it can be used in court. I need to know. This is my case, after all." the prosecutor answered,"It seems you're coherent. When and where did you find out about that world? How is it even possible to steal another's heart?" Sae paused for a moment to allow the drugged redhead to process the questions, "Now, tell me your account of everything." Adam propped his elbows on the table and held his head up with one hand.

"Where do I even begin…?" he wondered aloud.

" … Start from the very beginning." she told him. At that moment, for Adam, the entire world seemed to go dark, and the only light to be seen was that of a glowing blue butterfly that fluttered past him.

 **(Begin Persona 5 OST: Aria of the Soul)**

"…You are held captive." A voice told him, "A prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance. This is truly an unjust game… Your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you… I beg you. Please overcome this game… and save the world… The key to victory lies within the memories of your bonds-the truth that you and your friends grasped. It all began that day when the game was started half a year ago… For the sake of your world's future… as well as your own… you must remember…" After the voice finished speaking, the world returned to normal.

 **(End Persona 5 OST: Aria of the Soul)**

Adam took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair while crossing his arms. He stared at the ceiling for a minute before returning his gaze to Sae.

"…From the very beginning, huh?" he asked, prompting the older woman to nod.

"Well, then," he said leaning forward and crossing his arms as he rested them on the table, "Buckle in, cause my story is a weird one." he suddenly quirked his lips into a small smile, seemingly for no reason, "I'm told one might even call it _bizzare_." Sae simply shrugged.

"At this point, I'm willing to believe almost anything."

"Well, to start," Adam responded, "I'm not human. Hell, I'm not even from _Earth_." The claim caused Sae to blink in surprise.

"What…?" was all she could bring herself to say.

"And another thing." Adam continued, "While I haven't killed anyone on Earth, at the same time those Manslaughter charges aren't _too_ far off." He cast his eyes down towards the table, "Though I will admit, I feel a lot more guilty about that these days…" he added, his voice barely above a whisper. Sae said nothing for a moment, but continued to stare at the boy in front of her who, just a moment ago, told her that he was an alien and that he had actually killed people. But, even though his eyes were on the table, she could see plenty of regret in them. Deciding to at least hear him out, she motioned him to continue.

"Well then, I guess you should start with how you got to Earth." she told him. Adam nodded at these words.

"Alright, here goes."

 **-Line Break-**

 **Remnant: the Fall of Beacon**

All was not well on the planet of Remnant. Granted, no one could really say things were _ever_ 100% okay, it kind of came with the fact that you lived on a planet infested with soulless monsters who were hellbent on wiping out mankind. Throw in some racism and, well, yeah, life had its ups and downs. To put it mildly, at least.

But all that came to a head when, during the bi-annual Vytal Festival, the shit _really_ hit the fan. First, there was the fact that a hole got blown in the middle of the city of Vale, located in the Kingdom of Vale, and a bunch of Grimm got unleashed into the city. Granted, there were no casualties and the hole was plugged up before the day was over, but it still made people worried.

Then there was the fiasco known as the Vytal Tournament. First, a student from the Huntsmen Academy known as Beacon had, for no reason, flipped her lid and attacked her opponent. After the match was already over. And a match she had won at that. This resulted in the boy, a student from Haven Academy, having his leg broken and having to be taken back to the Kingdom of Mistral for treatment.

Then there was an incident that definitely had more… _lethal_ consequences. During another match featuring a Beacon student, her opponent had sent an attack consisting of floating swords at her while she was disarmed. To counter, the Beacon student crossed her arms in front of her and threw them out, resulting in a wave of magnetic force sending the swords right back at their wielder. It was then that it was revealed that the swords weren't so much floating as they were attached to practically invisible wires. Wires that wrapped around the Atlesian girl's arms and body and proceeded to turn a penny into quarters tear her to pieces. Everyone watching was further shocked when this revealed that the girl was actually a robot in disguise.

Everything continued to go downhill from there, and the resulting misfortune included, but was not limited to, a strange woman hijacking the speakers to spread a message intended to make people distrust the Headmasters and the White Fang trying to invade Beacon. Oh, and the Creatures of Grimm, attracted by all the negativity being generated by what was supposed to be an uplifting festival, attacked. The Grimm also may or may not have been let into Vale by the White Fang. Speaking of the White Fang, this is where Adam comes in.

 **-Line Break-**

Adam Taurus, after leading the attack on Beacon Academy, watched as Blake Belladonna ran from him, carrying some blonde Huntress-in-training with her that Adam had, not even a minute prior, relieved of her right arm. He also may have stabbed Blake.

Now, this Adam had a different appearance from the one described earlier. For one, instead of a teenager he seemed to be about 23 years old. He still wore the same trench coat with the same designs and the same slit sleeves, but it no longer reached to his ankles. He also kept it partially buttoned, and you could make out a red shirt underneath. He still wore black pants and black boots, rather than the brown cuban heeled shoes. Held in his hand was the same red sword, complete with scabbard. In addition, he still had the same fair skin and red-and-brown hair, and he even still had the mask. However, one glaring difference was the fact that he also had a pair of horns on either side of his head that curved backwards, signifying his status one of the Faunus, a race that is almost identical to humans, with the exception of possessing an animal trait.

As soon as Blake was out of sight, he turned and began to walk away in the opposite direction. At the same time, a Grimm decided to attack him, but he dispatched it with a single sword swing without even looking.

 **-Line Break-**

 **Earth, Interrogation Room**

 **11/20/20XX**

"Okay, stop." Sae said, holding up her hand while the other one pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What?" asked Adam.

"You mean to tell me that not only are you from a race of animal people-"

"I would've preferred you phrased that a bit better, but yeah, pretty much."

"-But that you come from a planet where monsters, that are _literally_ soulless, mind you, are trying to wipe out every single human and 'Faunus'-"

"Yeah, although no one knows why they want to kill us all."

"-And that you _also_ lead a group to commit what can only be called a _terrorist attack_ on a school designed to train _teenagers_ to fight these monsters?"

"If it makes you feel any better, I feel _really_ guilty about that now."

The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Sae spoke again.

"So, what exactly is the goal of this 'White Fang' group?"

"We were fighting back against humanity for oppressing us, the Faunus people." Adam answered. Sae tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"These 'Faunus' are a minority on… 'Remnant' was it?" the prosecutor asked. Adam nodded.

"Yes, mankind always looked down on us because of our extra features. Seeing us as nothing more than subhuman trash, lesser." explained the red haired boy.

"And the White Fang was formed as a result of this discrimination?" Adam nodded again.

"Originally, the White Fang used peaceful methods to try and put an end to the hate. Strikes, boycotts, peaceful protests, the whole deal. And while these methods did gain results, they didn't get results fast enough." he continued, "At least, that's how some of us felt. A few years ago, the old leader stepped down. The one that replaced him was more than willing to let us use aggressive tactics to get what we wanted. If humans attacked us during protests, we would fight back. If a store refused to serve Faunus, it would be burnt down. If a company abused Faunus labor…" the former terrorist trailed off before shaking his head briefly and getting back on track, "Anyway, these methods got us the results we wanted. Humanity finally started to treat the Faunus equally, if only out of fear." Sae took a moment to process the impromptu history lesson.

"And… you are a Faunus?" she asked, "You were a member of this White Fang group?"

"Yes, on both accounts, I actually held a position of leadership while I was with the Fang." Adam confirmed, nodding. Sae sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"But if you're a Faunus, then how come-"

"If I'm a Faunus, how come I don't have any extra features?" Adam cut in, pointing to his head. Indicating the lack of his previously mentioned horns.

"If you don't mind me asking." said Sae.

"They're there." Adam answered simply, while also somehow managing to be somewhat cryptic.

"Then how come I can't see them?" questioned the prosecutor.

"I'll get to that bit later." Adam replied with a smirk, running a hand through his hair, "But trust me, they're there." As he lowered his hand from his head, and there was suddenly a pair of curved horns, one on either side of his head. Sae continued to simply look Adam dead in the eye, acting as if she didn't see the pair of horns he possessed once more. Although, to be fair, that was because she _couldn't_ see them.

"Very well, then." She said, "In any case, continue where you left off, about how you came to Earth." Adam nodded as he continued he story.

 **-Line Break-**

 **Remnant: the Fall of Beacon**

After dispatching the Grimm without even so much as glancing at it, Adam was about to leave the burning building he was currently in, until he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Oi! You Adam Taurus?" said the voice, which sounded distinctly feminine. Adam turned around to see just who had shouted at him. He was greeted by the sight of a pair of teenage girls that looked to be about seventeen or eighteen.

In terms of appearance, the girls looked identical in a number of ways, giving off the impression that they could easily be sisters. For one, they were both the same height and had the same pale skin dotted with numerous freckles. Even their hair was similar, both kept it at a length where it reached bout halfway down their backs, and it had a slight wave. But that's where the similarities ended.

For one, one was blonde and the other was raven haired. Which was kind of ironic, considering he was just departing from an encounter involving a blonde and a noirette (person with black hair, if it wasn't obvious).

The one with black hair had strange, purple eyes, that seemed to possess an almost toxic glow. She wore a black, hooded sweatshirt that had a white skull on the front and a large biohazard symbol on the back. On her legs and feet she wore combat boots and skinny jeans that were covered in white splotches, like she had repeatedly spilled bleach on them. In one hand she held a sabre with a straight blade (It is possible for a sabre to have a straight blade, just search 'british infantry sword') that was such a dark purple that it almost appeared black, and it also held a deadly shine. Her expression was not much more than a glower, while also possessing a bit of boredom, like she would rather be doing a million other things.

In contrast, the blonde had a very happy, not to mention airy, smile on her face. Her eyes were green, and seemed to hold an ambient glow that gave the impression of standing in the middle of a peaceful forest. She too, wore a hooded sweatshirt, but the white and black colors were reversed, and the back had a globe instead of the biohazard symbol. She also wore jeans, but hers were covered in mud and grass stains, and unlike her sister, she opted to wear hiking boots in place of combat boots. Strapped to her back was a large claymore with a wooden handle and cross guard fashioned to look like intertwining tree roots.

"Oh! I think that's the guy we're looking for, Poison!" the blonde said excitedly, bouncing on her heels. The raven haired girl, who was apparently named 'Poison', studied Adam for a moment.

"Let's see," she began, "Red hair, horns, mask, trench coat, sword and scabbard," she paused to observe his face for a moment before nodding, "And a douchebag expression on his face. Yup, he's the one, Celeste." After hearing that last part, Adam, who had remained silent up until now, grit his teeth in anger.

"Alright, who do you think you are, and what do you want with me?" he demanded.

"A friend of ours wants to see you." answered Poison.

"And our job is to take you to him!" Celeste continued cheerfully.

"Yeah, right. I'm not going anywhere with you." Adam scoffed at the declarations. Poison simply shrugged.

"Yeah, well, you don't have a choice." She said as she turned away, "Celeste, you go grab him. I'll prepare for our meet up with Ace."

"You got it, sis!" Celeste replied nodding. Turning to Adam, she began to walk, actually it was almost a skip, towards him. Adam glared at her and began to reach towards his sword, Wilt.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that." Celeste told him, her smile never dropping from her face, "It's easier if you just come without a fight, So why don't you-" While she was saying this, she was reaching out to Adam and was about to put her hand on his shoulder when he struck. Quickly unsheathing Wilt, he cut off the blonde's arm faster than most people could see, causing Celeste to gasp and adopt a shocked, yet also offended(?), expression as her limb was reduced to a bleeding stump.

"Now why'd you have to go and do tha-" she was about to ask before Adam slashed again and kicked her in the chest, sending both body and newly separated head to the ground. Hearing the commotion, Poison started to turn around and face Adam again, this time with a worried expression.

"Celeste?! What happened-" before she could even finish her question, Adam sheathed Wilt and dashed over to the raven haired girl. Grabbing onto her shoulder, Adam threw Poison as hard as he could towards a pile of burning debris.

"Oh, you son of a bitch!" Poison shouted, righting herself as she flew through the air, "You just _had_ to make this difficult, didn't you?" Unfortunately, Poison did not pay attention to where her body was flying. As a result, the broken end of a support beam erupted from her chest as she was impaled on the pile of debris. Letting out an angry shriek from the pain, Poison dropped her saber and grabbed the support beam, trying to pull her body off of it. Seeing that she was in no position to fight back, Adam calmly walked towards her as he unsheathed Wilt. Shifting Blush, the scabbard, into its rifle form Adam all but pressed the barrel to Poison's head. Then he pulled the trigger. Obviously, a bullet is fired, and Poison has a new hole in her head. Poison is still for a moment as blood runs down her face, before slumping forward. The red haired swordsman shifts Blush back into a scabbard and sheathes Wilt. He then turns and begins to walk away once more. Unfortunately for him, this causes him to miss Poison's hand twitching, as well as Celeste's headless body sitting up and her severed arm turning into compost.

 _What a couple of idiots, thinking they could make me go anywhere with them when they didn't even have any Aura._ Adam thought to himself, and he would have been on his way if not for two little things. One, he felt two hands each grab a shoulder, and Two, he heard two voices that he most definitely should _not_ be hearing anymore.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked a pair of voices, one with a familiar bubbly tone, and the other with an equally familiar venomous (see what I did there?) tone. Wrenching his shoulders out of the pair of hands, Adam whirled around and was greeted by the sight of the two girls once more.

"That _hurt_ , asshole!" Poison growled, her face streaked with blood, head lacking a bullet wound, and her sweatshirt equally bloody with a large rip in it.

"Plus, we still need to take you to see our friend!" Celeste added, head reattached and the stump of her severed arm having flesh and bone rapidly growing out of it and forming a new arm.

Before Adam even had a chance to react, the pair of girls each grabbed one of his arms and threw him through the air at a very high speed. While he was airborne, both extended a hand and seemed to aim past him. Meanwhile, Adam had been thrown so hard and fast he was flying through the air parallel to the ground and couldn't do anything but look ahead as two strange pentagrams, one green and the other purple, appear on either side of him. The red haired Faunus didn't get a chance to even try and think of an idea to stop his flight before he disappeared in a flash of light.

"Geez, first the thing with Ivan and that ritual, and now this." Poison panted, "Ace sure is going to owe a lot of favors." she lowered her arm and turned away, "Whatever, it's not my problem. I'm going home."

 **-Line Break-**

 **?**

A flash of light identical to the one that made Adam disappear occurred again, unceremoniously depositing Adam on the ground.

"What the hell…" Adam groaned as he picked himself off the ground, "What did those two do to me? Where am I?" Looking at his surroundings, Adam realized something very strange. He was still in the building at Beacon, but while it was still in ruins, it was no longer in flames. In addition, the whole place was completely silent, no sound of Grimm, White Fang, nothing.

"Oh, you're here." said a voice, "Poison and Celeste really don't fuck about." Spinning on his heel and grasping Wilt's handle, Adam faced the owner of the voice.

The owner of the voice was a teenage boy who, Adam realized, looked very similar to the two girls that sent him here in the first place. Same height, same pale skin with freckles, and same blonde shade of hair as Celeste, and while it was cut short, you could still make out the same slight wave. Like Poison, he had a black hooded sweatshirt with a skull on the front, but the symbol on the back was a large, gold pocket watch. He also wore combat boots, and his jeans were cleaner than the pairs worn by the girls, but the knees were torn. In addition, he wore glasses that framed eyes that glowed a fiery yellow.

"In case you're wondering, the name's Ace." said the newly identified Ace.

"I don't care what your name is." Adam snapped, "What do you want with me?" Ace just shrugged.

"To punish you for what you've done slash possibly give you a chance to redeem yourself." The answer he gave was so outlandish that all Adam could do was stand there and stare at him.

"…What?" he asked slowly.

"To put it simply, you're an asshole." Ace said bluntly, "You've killed a bunch of people and, not too long ago, you swore to make your ex-partner's life hell because she didn't agree with your genocidal doctrine. So I'm going to make you pay for all the crimes you've committed. And who knows, maybe you'll become a better person in the process."

"What makes you think I'll do anything you ask?" Adam snarled. Ace just gave him a deadpan stare.

"If Cinder could strongarm you into helping _her_ cause when she didn't even have the full power of the Fall Maiden-"

 _What's this about Maidens?_ A small part of Adam couldn't help but wonder.

"-then I'm pretty sure it'll be a cakewalk for me." Not missing the obvious implication that he was being called weak, Adam growled and charged the blonde boy. Ace sighed but remained still, and Adam got within striking distance and performed a draw slash. But, just as Wilt was swung at him, Ace simply held out his arm and, with two fingers becoming coated in some sort of obsidian-like substance, caught the blade between said fingers.

"You really need to work on your anger issues, you know that?" he commented, before giving his hand a quick twist and snapping Wilt into two pieces. While Adam was in shock over seeing his blade broken like it was nothing more than a twig, Ace clenched his other hand into a fist that quickly became coated in the same obsidian, and punched Adam square in the stomach. Coughing up saliva, Adam dropped Blush and the remains of Wilt as he flew back several feet.

"Bastard…" he he wheezed out, desperately trying to get some air into his lungs. Meanwhile, Ace bent down and picked up Adam's discarded weapon. Tapping Wilt with his thumb, a small glyph that looked like a clock that was moving backwards at a fast pace appeared. This somehow caused the shards of the blade to fly up off the ground and mend themselves, within seconds, Wilt looked good as new.

"I'll admit, this blade is very well made." Ace complimented, giving it a few test swings before turning his attention to Blush, "And this…" he transformed Blush into rifle mode and looked down the sight, "Smooth transformation, good weight distribution…" Ace then aimed and fired at a far wall, then observing where the bullet hit, "And reliable accuracy." Satisfied with the evaluation he gave them, he turned Blush back into a scabbard and sheathed Wilt as Adam finally managed to get back to his feet.

"Give those back." demanded the red haired Faunus.

"I will," Ace replied, "At a later time. You can have these back once I'm sure I can trust you with them."

"Why are you even doing this?" asked Adam. Fixing the horned swordsman with such an intense glare that Adam had to force himself not to take a step back, Ace began to walk towards him slowly.

"Why?" he echoed, "Because as far as I'm concerned, you're nothing but _scum_. You're one of the people to blame for the White Fang's goal of achieving equality for the Faunus becoming corrupted and twisted to the point that it's now about wiping out humanity. Your actions do nothing but perpetuate the stereotype that Faunus are nothing but violent, criminal _animals_ , thus making life for the _good_ Faunus _harder_." As he continued to talk, the strange boy's eyes began to glow brighter and brighter with anger, "But as far as _you're_ concerned, you're the good guy, you're the hero of your own story. You're _never_ the asshole in a situation, nothing is ever _your_ fault. And you'll kill _anyone_ who doesn't agree with your way of thinking." By now, Ace was right in Adam's face, and his eyes were glowing white hot. In fact, the surrounding temperature had physically risen to the point that it felt hotter than the sun in the middle of July. This time, Adam really did take a step back, this guy was absolutely _radiating_ death and rage.

"W-what the hell are you?! Some kind of demon?!" Try as he might, Adam couldn't keep the terrified stammer out of his voice. Ace just chuckled.

"Pretty much." he said darkly. Then, all of a sudden, he dropped the malevolent aura, the surrounding temperature returned to normal, and his eyes returned to their original yellow, "But as much as I hate you for what you've done, I'm willing to believe it's not too late for you. I'm offering you a chance to atone for your sins and maybe, just maybe, become a real hero. What do you say?" Adam stared at the boy who was someone able to go from making him fear for his life, to offering him a chance at some sort of redemption. All in less than a minute. Composing himself, he took a moment to think about the offer.

What really stuck out to him was how Ace had thrown around the word 'hero' a few times. To be honest, it reminded him of when he was younger, and naive. It reminded him of when he was a kid, and dreamed of being a hero who stood up for the oppressed Faunus. Who protected the weak, both Faunus and humans, believe it or not, from humans who abused their power for their own selfish gain, and didn't care how many people's lives they had to trample on to get what they wanted. It actually wasn't until a few years ago, when the White Fang's leadership changed, that Adam had truly started to abandon those ideals and believe the only way that life for the Faunus could improve, was to prove their superiority to the human race. As far as he was concerned nowadays, there was nothing wrong with dreaming, but sometimes dreamers have to wake up and face the cruel, unforgiving reality. And right now, the reality was that even Adam knew it was too late for him to become any sort of 'hero', as much as he didn't want it to be so.

"Sorry, kid." Adam replied, shaking his head, "But you can spout as much of that 'there's still good in you' crap as you want, but we both know that there's no turning back for me. My answer is no." Ace stared at Adam silently for a moment before nodding.

"I see," he said slowly, "But unfortunately, you don't really have a choice." That caught Adam off guard.

"…What?" he asked dumbly. Ace shrugged and gave him a bit of a smile in response to his dumbfounded expression.

"You see, as much as this is a chance at redemption for you, keep in mind, it's also supposed to be a punishment." explained the (apparently) demonic teen, "My plan is to put you in a situation where you'll end up having to do good, you can almost think of it as…" Ace waved his had as he searched for the right words, "community service."

"But-but you said it was an _offer_! As in, I have a choice! I can say yes or no!" the horned swordsman sputtered. Once again, Ace just shrugged.

"Yeah, I kinda lied." Ace then tapped his chin as he adopted a thoughtful expression, "But now the question is: where to send you?"

"What do you mean 'where to send me'!?" demanded Adam, "You mean you haven't thought this all the way through!?" The strange blonde teen only waved off Adam's concerns.

"Don't worry about it too much. In order for this whole thing to work I have to send you somewhere you don't have a reputation as a mass murderer." was all Ace offered before going back to his pondering, "Could I send him there? No, that wouldn't work. Hmmm… Maybe…? No, that's a bad idea as well. Wait a minute…!" a look of inspiration appeared on his face, "I may not be entirely familiar with the events of _that_ … but that would make it all the better! And more effective!" By this point, Adam was getting sick and tired of this whole situation.

"What are you babbling about?" he said in frustration. Ace looked at him with a grin.

"You're chance to become a hero, so get ready!"

"Get ready for wha-" Adam started to ask, but Ace cut him off by snapping his fingers, and everything went black.

 **-Line Break-**

 **?, Japan**

The next thing Adam knew, he found himself in a rural neighborhood late at night, with lit street lamps placed periodically. Upon realizing he was no longer wearing his mask, he also noticed that his outfit had changed, it now consisted of a black and white t-shirt with '1797' on the front, gray jeans, and black shoes. He also had a brown bookbag on his back.

" _Now_ where am I?" he grumbled to himself.

"Your in a country called Japan, on a planet called Earth." said a voice next to him. Snapping his head in that direction, Adam was once again greeted by the sight of Ace.

"You sent me to an entirely different _world_!?" Adam asked, incredulous, "How is that even possible?" In response, Ace held up both of his hands, he held one palm up and snapped his fingers with the other. This caused a small flame to appear in his palm and multicolored sparks to fly from his fingertips.

"Magic." he replied simply, "It's also why… you were 23 before, right?" Adam did not respond verbally, but nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." said Ace, "Anyway, I reversed your age by about six or seven years. So now you're about 16 or 17." Again, Adam remained silent. All he could do was put his hands on his head and shake it. Except when he did that, he felt something strange. Or, to be more specific, it felt strange because of what he _didn't_ feel when he did this.

"What the-?!" Adam began feeling all over his head frantically, "Where the hell are my horns?!"

"Don't worry, I didn't remove them." Ace told him, "I just hid them." Adam slowly turned towards the teenage magic user.

"Hid them…?" he repeated, causing Ace to nod.

"Yeah, I cast a spell so that they are no longer visible, nor can they be touched. But they're there."

"WHY?!" Adam cried at the top of his lungs.

"Because… you see… Faunus don't exist in this world." Ace replied, scratching the back of his head.

"You mean, you supposedly sent me to a world where there are only humans?" the red haired guy who was now a teenager again said slowly.

"Yup." Ace replied, popping the 'p', "So as far as anyone on this world is concerned, you're also a human, so you might want to at least _try_ and hide your hatred of humans. Oh, and I also kind of used you to basically replace some other guy-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I 'REPLACED' SOMEONE?!" shrieked Adam, who, understandably, was hitting his breaking point and starting to crack.

"Don't worry about it too much." Ace told him, which really meant that Ace slash the author was feeling too lazy to explain it, "No one's gonna notice or ask questions. Now, the guy I replaced you with was on his way home, I believe. So that's where you're going. So you might as well get on that." Ace was about to turn away before a thought occurred to him, "Oh, and something you should keep in mind: _One must take full responsibility for their actions_. Bye." and just like that, Ace disappeared in a burst of fire and smoke, leaving Adam by himself.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" the red haired swordsman bellowed, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS! I'LL KILL YOU!" Breathing deeply from the outburst, Adam took a moment to compose himself.

 _So… According to that Ace guy, I might as well be human now._ He thought, _And since I have no way of getting back to Remnant, what now?_ Adam tried desperately to think of a solution to the situation he was in. While doing that, he realized something else, he could no longer feel his Aura.

 _Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnddd_ _I apparently don't have Aura. Guess I don't have a choice, I'll just have to go along with this whole punishment-slash-possible-redemption nonsense he's putting me through._ Resigning himself to his current predicament, Adam put his hands in his pockets and started to walk down the street. He didn't know how, but he somehow knew he was heading in the direction of his 'home'. Thanks to the fact that it was late at night and that there were no other sounds, Adam soon heard it.

"Just get in the car!" snarled a masculine voice from somewhere in the distance.

"Stop it!" pleaded a feminine voice. Hearing these voices, Adam slowed to a stop. To his right was a connecting street, and it was also the same place that the arguing voices of a man and woman could be heard.

"How dare you cross me!" said the man.

"Stop it! Let me go!" the woman continued to beg. Adam knew it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. Turning back to the direction he was initially heading, he took a few slow steps forward.

 _Whatever, if what Ace told me about this 'world' is true, then she's just some human._ Adam thought to himself, _Humans caused the Faunus to suffer for so long, so it's not my problem. Humans deserve to suffer. I have no reason to help her. She's just some human. It's not my problem._ That's what he kept telling himself, at least.

So why wouldn't his body take another step?

 _She's just some human. It's not my problem._ Adam continued to think, but he still just stood there. The more he tried to move forward, the more his feet refused to move. _She's. Just. Some. Human. It's. Not. My. Problem._

Finally, _finally_ , his body began to move again. But rather than going straight, towards his 'home', he found himself taking a sharp right. With his body feeling like it was moving on its own, Adam walked down the street and was soon greeted by the sight of a woman struggling against a man near a car.

"No…!" the woman begged, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

"Don't give me that shit…" the man slurred, Adam was close enough that he could easily make out that the guy was drunk. He could even smell the alcohol from where he was standing. Granted, that was probably because he still had his Faunus senses, but the point still stands.

"Ow! P-Please stop…!" the woman cried.

 _She's just some human…_ Adam still tried to reason with himself, but he still found himself walking towards the scene in front of him regardless.

"Tch… what a waste of time." grumbled the man. Adam was now able to make out that he was bald and wore a suit, "You think you're worth causing me trouble? Huh?"

"I-I'll call the police!" the woman tried to threaten desperately. Adam could now see that she had long, black hair, and wore a white shirt with a black skirt. He also noticed that her attempted threat only served to amuse the drunk man.

"Heh, call them if you want! The police are my bitches." he bragged, "They're not gonna take you seriously."

"No… Stop…!" the woman went back to begging just as police sirens could be heard in the distance, drawing the attention of the bald drunk.

"Tch, Someone called the cops, huh?" he muttered before turning his attention back to the woman, "Get in the car! Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouths and follow where I steer this country!" Finally deciding he had heard enough, Adam reached out and grabbed the drunk man's shoulder and pulled him away from the scared woman.

"Enough's enough." Adam told him, placing himself between the two. Doing this allowed him to see that the man left his suit jacket unbuttoned and didn't wear a tie. He did, however, wear a pair of glasses with the lenses tinted orange and had a black goatee.

"Hey-! Get outta my face!" snapped the drunk, "This ain't a show. Get lost, kid."

"You first." Adam replied, glaring at the man in front of him.

"Damn _brat_ , you got some nerve…" the drunk slurred, "I'm the only one who can steer this country _properly_. So shut your mouth and GET LOST!" he roared and took a sloppy swing at the red haired boy. Given that the man was barely vertical he was so drunk, Adam blocked the pathetic excuse for a punch and countered by shoving the man back. Stumbling backwards, the bald drunk struggled to regain his balance in his intoxicated state. Managing to shift his momentum forwards, the man tried to came at Adam again. Only to fall forward and to the left, causing him to smash his head onto a nearby guardrail.

"Just how drunk are you? Bastard…" Adam muttered as the man stood back up, nursing a bleeding gash on his forehead. During the fall, the man's glasses had fallen off, revealing brown eyes.

"Damn brat…" he said again, "I'll sue!" Adam just snorted in response.

"Like anyone will believe you. It's obvious you're drunk, and this woman," he gestured to the man's almost-victim, "will serve as a witness that I was protecting her from you assaulting her." The man turned his drunken gaze back to the woman, and then started to chuckle.

"You really think that'll work?" he asked, "Do you have any idea who I am?" Meanwhile, the woman managed to once more work up her courage and step forward.

"If you keep this up…" she began slowly, "Then I'll report about the money! Is that fine with you?" The bald man just shrugged in response.

"All I have to say is that you did it on your own, and it's over." he told her, causing the woman to falter.

"But… I just did as I was told…"

"I don't know what you two are talking about, and frankly, I don't care." Adam cut in, "But you're still not going to get away with trying to assault her, and she can still support my story that you swung first while I acted in self defense." The drunk man simply looked between the two.

"Who do you think I am?" he told them, as if they were supposed to know, apparently.

 _Some drunk guy who thinks he's untouchable for some reason?_ Adam replied mentally, choosing not to dignify what he said with a verbal response.

"No…" the woman said weakly.

"Hey. Make this statement to the cops. 'This kid suddenly attacked me.' Got it?" the drunk instructed the woman, "If you even try to say anything else, you know what'll happen to you, right?"

"Huh? But-" the woman tried to argue.

"You think she's actually gonna say that?" Adam cut in, again, "You tried to _assault her_ and then swung at me when I told you to back off. You don't have a leg to stand on." Admittedly, Adam was attempting to take full advantage of the fact that he was human, as far as the people of - what had Ace called this place? Earth? Yeah, that sounds right. - Earth were concerned. He knew full well that if he tried to pull this back on Remnant, even if he wasn't White Fang, he probably wouldn't be very lucky. So, yeah, he was going to try and make the most of his situation any way he could.

"Shut up. You're done for." the man snapped, "You're gonna learn what happens when you cross me…" By this time, a cop car pulled up and the sirens turned off. Two policemen, one burly and one thin, got out and came forward.

"Excuse me, folks." said a burly policeman, "We received a complaint about an argument here. Is something the matter?" hearing this, the drunk man stood up straight and turned towards the officers.

"Oh! It's you, sir." the burly policeman said in recognition.

 _Wait, what?_ Thought Adam.

"So, what happened? Explain it to the good officer." the drunk man told the woman.

"As you can see, this guy's obviously drunk," Adam said, stepping forward before the woman could speak, "I found him trying to force this woman into his car, I told him to back off and he took a swing at me. I blocked it and pushed him back, he ended up falling and cutting his head on the guardrail."

"I wasn't asking _you_." the drunk man snapped, "I was talking to the bitch next to you." Adam just shrugged at the bald drunk's words.

"So? They can go ahead and ask her, then. She'll support my story." he turned to the woman, "Go on, tell them what happened." The woman didn't say anything for a moment, she just turned her head away from the scene in front of her. Something about that got Adam worried for some reason.

"Aren't you going to tell them-" Adam was about to ask before the woman cut him off.

"That young man suddenly attacked him…" the woman said slowly, resignation in her voice, "He shoved this gentleman to the ground." Adam blinked

"…What?" asked the red haired teen, "No, that's-"

"And this man… got injured…" she continued

"What!?" cried the disguised Faunus, "No! What are you-"

"…It's as she says." the drunk man interrupted, "Also… make sure you deal with this so my name isn't mentioned at all. You understand what that means, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir!" the burly policeman replied, nodding. He then turned to the other policeman, "Hey, cuff him!"

"U-understood." responded the thin policeman.

"No! Stop! That's not what happened at all!" Adam said frantically as the two policemen moved forward and grabbed his arms.

"Shut up!" the bald man barked again, "Let this be a lesson. This is what happens when you mess with me."

"No…" the red haired Faunus said weakly. At that point, everything just became a blur. He was taken to a police station, and thus, Adam Taurus' first memory of Earth was getting arrested on false assault charges. All because his body moved on its own and he ended up trying to play hero. It all reminded him of one thing he learned from being a Faunus on Remnant: By Oum, he hated humans.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Alright everybody, here it is. The first chapter of my Persona 5/RWBY crossover, starring Adam Taurus as the role of Joker! I should probably explain some things right now. First off, Adam isn't going to be as bad as he is in canon. I am in no way an abuse apologist, I just want to make him a better person for the sake of the story. Second, I haven't really decided on pairings, I mean, I've decided on** _ **one**_ **and I can also confidently say that this will** _ **not**_ **be a harem fic. Oh, and I might get inconsistent with chapter lengths. Ummm… that's all I can really think of to say… So as always, if you like my writing be sure to follow this story so you can be notified when a new chapter comes out. Also, be sure to check out my other stories (which I promise I will update as soon as I can): Freelancers React to Red vs Blue, RWBY and the Wolf, and Pokemon Avatar Mode. Oh, and another thing, be sure to tell me what you think of my writing by leaving a comment, I'm always open to constructive criticism. Until next time!**

 **-Finch Daemon**


	2. Chapter 1

**4/9/20XX**

"Guh!" The jostle of the train woke Adam with a start, and he panicked for a second as he forgot where he was, but he quickly calmed down when all he saw was the interior of the train car, and a few other passengers. That, and he remembered what had happened to him.

 _That's right, some crazy demon child abducted me from Remnant._ He recounted in his head, _He sent me here as punishment, but to also try and redeem myself._ This was what he got for trying to play hero. He tried to help a woman from some guy forcing himself on her, but everything went wrong and so he got arrested under false assault charges and was now on probation. His 'parents' hadn't been too pleased, and shoved him off to live with some guy for a while, 'Sojiro Sakura' if he recalled. He was also going to attend the local high school, and he was actually wearing the uniform right now. The uniform consisted of a white turtleneck sweater with a small chevron design on the collar. Over the sweater was a black blazer with red buttons and a school emblem on the breast pocket. He also wore black and red plaid trousers with black shoes on his feet and he carried a black messenger bag. For the most part, he saw no reason to make any real modifications. He had, however, taken to wearing a pair of sunglasses with the lenses tinted bright red.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today," chimed a female voice from one of the speakers, "We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly, this is the last stop for this line. Please transfer here for all subway lines. The doors to your left will open." Adam quickly tuned it out and stared at some ads on the wall, thinking back to that night in his 'hometown'.

" _Please! Help!"_

" _Damn brat… I'll sue!"_

"What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?" Adam was snapped out of his trip down memory lane when he heard the voice of some teenage girl.

"It's the truth!" insisted her friend.

"To a person though?" the first girl remained skeptical, "That's gotta be a joke. You really love all the occult stuff, don't you?" Quickly losing interest in their stupid teenage gossip, Adam stopped paying attention.

 **-Line Break-**

Getting off at his stop, Adam navigated his way through Shibuya with the help of a smartphone. As far as he could see, it was this world's version of a scroll, and he wasn't talking about the rolled up paper kind. Looking up from the navigation app he had open, Adam realized just how _loud_ this place was. With all these people, it was almost hell on his Faunus senses, even though there were plenty of types of Faunus with much more sensitive hearing. All of a sudden, he heard his phone make a weird beep.

"Hm…?" turning his attention back to his phone, Adam's eyebrow quirked up. For some reason there was a weird icon on the screen. It had a red and black background behind a red eye with a black star in its pupil. Then the icon suddenly expanded until it took up most of the screen.

"What the hell…?" Adam muttered as he tapped the screen, trying to see if he could get rid of whatever weird program this was. That was when things got _really_ weird.

"I have a feeling that's what's going ooooooonnnnnnnnnn…." A man that was passing behind him suddenly had his voice become distorted and slow down before just stopping altogether. Looking up from his phone, Adam realized that it wasn't just the man's voice. _Everything_ had stopped.

 _The fuck!? Is this that Ace kid's doing!?"_ Adam thought as he looked around frantically, trying to see if he could spot the source of this freeze. That was when he saw it. A brilliant blue flame dancing wildly before it took the shape of a large winged figure, easily towering over everyone in the crowd. Adam stared at the figure, the azure flames that composed it reflecting in his sunglasses. Next thing he knew, the flaming figure suddenly had a face, Two eyes and a mouth like a Jack o' Lantern glowing a sinister red. The next moment, he was staring at his own face, except something was off… For one, the image of his face had a wide, madman-type grin splitting his face. And two, he knew for a fact that his eyes did _not_ possess an eerie yellow glow like that. Then, before he could react, everything went white. In the very next moment, his vision cleared and everything was back to normal. The people were walking about instead of being frozen in time, and their voices were as loud as ever. Adam continued to stare into space before shaking his head lightly.

"I think I might be catching Ace's crazy…" he muttered as he looked back at his phone. The weird app was still there, but it was also back to a normal size. Not thinking twice, the red haired teen dragged the icon to the delete bin and carried on his way.

 **-Line Break-**

Reaching the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya, Adam looked around. Sojiro Sakura's house was supposed to be around here, according to his phone. Spotting a police officer, Adam walked over.

"Hey." he said.

"Hm? What do you want?" the officer asked in a not very kind tone. Adam ground his teeth at the cop's attitude, but didn't comment. He'd had enough trouble with the police on Earth as it was.

"Do you know where I can find this address?" Adam forced his voice to carry an even tone as he showed the unfriendly officer his phone.

"Hm?" the cop looked at the screen, "You want to get to the residence at that address…?" he then pointed down the street, "It's in an alley a bit further back. Take a right after that apartment with the stairs." Believing that he answered the question satisfactorily, the officer turned away from the red haired teen. Not even bothering with a 'thank you', Adam turned and walked in the direction the cop pointed. Reaching the apartment with the stairs, Adam took an immediate right and found his destination.

 _Well, let's get the introduction crap over with._ Adam thought as he rang the doorbell. Only for no one to answer. Adam rang the doorbell again. Still no answer.

"Oh, come on. Where is this guy?" he grumbled as he rang the doorbell a third time, "Is anyone even here!?" he shouted into the home. Looking at the windows, he didn't see any lights on, but for a second, he could have sworn he saw a flicker of movement in one of them.

"Looks like no one's home…" mused a voice behind Adam. Turning to look, Adam saw a mailman holding a parcel and looking up at the house, "Oh, yeah… Sakura-san's usually at his cafe around this time. Well, LeBlanc's in the back alley so I should make my other deliveries first… Mmm, next I need to take this package to…" Tuning out the man's voice when what he was saying was no longer relevant, Adam turned to go and find Sojiro Sakura's cafe.

 _Why did no one think to tell me something like that?_ He thought, annoyed.

 **-Line Break-**

Navigating his way through the backstreets, Adam found LeBlanc, a small cafe with a red and white awning out front. Still annoyed that he wasted his time going to Sojiro's house, the ex-terrorist went inside, ringing the bell as he opened the door. Once inside, he saw that the cafe was mostly empty, its only occupants being an elderly couple and a man with an apron, probably the manager, reading a newspaper.

"A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with its passengers still in it!" blared the voice of a tabloid show host, "The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up."

"How frightening." commented the old man, shaking his head.

"What could be going on?" agreed the old woman sitting across from him, "Didn't something similar happen just the other day?"

"Vertical is… the name of a shellfish used for farming pearls…" the manager read aloud, indicating he was doing the crossword. He then looked up and noticed Adam standing there.

"…Oh, right. They did say that was today." Behind his sunglasses, Adam glared at the man who was apparently Sojiro Sakura. This man had agreed to take care of him, but he couldn't even be bothered to remember that? Meanwhile, the elderly couple stood up.

"We'll be going now. The payment's on the table." the old man told him.

"Thanks for coming." Sojiro replied.

"This place is in the back alley, so there's no worries of a car crashing in here." the old man said.

"A what now?" Sojiro asked, confused at the comment that, from his perspective, had come out of nowhere.

"There's been a string of those rampage accidents, you know." the elderly man explained, "I hope none happen around here."

"It's none of my concern." Sojiro shrugged it off.

"Haha, we'll see you next time." the old man laughed as he and the woman left. Once they had, Sojiro sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"…Four hours for just a single cup of joe." he muttered before turning to Adam, "So, you're the guy? Adam?" he asked the red haired teen, an unfriendly look on his face. Now that they were the only ones there, Adam was able to get a good look at the man he would be staying with.

Sojiro Sakura was a middle aged man with gray eyes framed by glasses and a receding hairline of dark, slicked back hair, he also had facial hair in the form of a chinstrap beard with a flaring goatee. The clothes he wore consisted of a pale pink dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, pale khakis that were rolled halfway up his calf and held up by a white leather belt, and white loafers on his feet. Over his shirt he also wore a black apron with a white pinstripe design.

"That's me." Adam finally answered, "And I'm guessing you're Sojiro Sakura?"

"…Yeah. You'll be in my custody over the next year." Sojiro confirmed.

 _Did part of that include making me wait outside your house for you, making me waste my time and look like a damn fool?_ Adam thought testily, _Or did it just not occur to you to tell me you worked a job around this time? Or could you just not be bothered, just like you could barely be bothered to remember about me in the first place?_

"I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up," Sojiro continued, looking Adam up and down, "And you're the one, huh?" Adam quirked an eyebrow and scowled.

"You agreed to take me in without even knowing what I looked like?" he asked with an incredulous hint in his voice.

"Don't get smart." Sojiro scowled back, "Were you even told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other and-" Sojiro shook his head a little, "Well, not that that matters… Follow me." The older man turned and walked towards the back of the store, where Adam could see the bottom of a set of stairs.

 _I thought I was staying at his place?_ Adam wondered silently as he followed his new guardian up the stairs. Following Sojiro led the former White Fang to a dirty, cluttered attic. Boxes, trash bags, and empty gas cans were piled everywhere. In one corner was a dying potted plant, and another held a cot. Along one wall was a table, an old couch, and a desk piled with books and covered with a plastic sheet.

"This is your room." Sojiro told the red haired teen, "I'll at least give you sheets for your bed."

" _This is my room!?_ " Adam repeated, not even trying to hide his incredulousness now, "What am I even supposed to do with this mess? Have you ever even _tried_ to clean this up?"

"Yeah, I did clean up a bit," the dark haired barista replied flatly, "And it'll be up to you to clean up the rest."

"Why am I even staying in the attic of your cafe?" Adam demanded, "Why not at your place?"

"Because I don't want you hogging the guest room." Sojiro replied quickly.

"Then I'll stay on a couch or something."

"No. You're sleeping here." the barista told him, "And that's final." Seeing that his new guardian had wasn't going to accept any argument, Adam grit his teeth, but didn't press further.

"Anyway, I'll be leaving after I lock up each day. You'll be alone at night, but don't do anything stupid." Sojiro warned, "I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble."

"Of course you will." Adam grumbled, but making sure his voice was low enough that Sojiro didn't hear.

"Now then… I got the gist of your situation." Sojiro continued, "You protected a woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you. Right?"

"That's pretty much it." Adam confirmed, his scowl never dropping.

"That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults." Sojiro snapped lightly, "You did injure him, yeah?"

"Not on purpose." Adam answered curtly.

"…And now that you've got a criminal record, you were expelled from your high school." the middle aged barista continued, "The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved. In other words," Sojiro smirked, "they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass."

 _Wipe that smug look off your face before I…_ Adam thought angrily, clenching his fist in his pocket. He wouldn't make good on that (unfinished) threat, though. Adam Taurus hated humans, he hated the fact that he was trapped on a planet where the only sentient life forms were humans, but he wasn't dumb. He wasn't going to let his hatred of humans get him kicked out onto the streets when he had nowhere else to go.

"It's best you not talk about anything unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business, you know." Sojiro instructed, unaware of what was going on in Adam's head, "Behave yourself for the year. If nothing happens, your probation will be lifted."

"A whole year…" Adam echoed, putting his hand to his head.

"Cause any problems, and you'll be sent straight to juvie." Sojiro warned again, "We'll be going to Shujin tomorrow."

"Shujin…?" Adam murmured. Why did that name sound familiar?

"Shujin Academy-the school you'll be attending while you're here." Sojiro explained, exasperation clear on his face, "We'll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there. There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know. What a waste of my Sunday…" the barista sighed, before looking over his shoulder. Shifting his gaze to see what Sojiro was looking at, Adam noticed a large cardboard box on the floor that stood out from the others.

"Your 'luggage' arrived earlier; I left them over there." Sojiro said, then walking past Adam and down the stairs. Leaving him to straighten out the room and get settled. Adam stared at the box before looking around the room, his thoughts stewing angrily.

 _I can't_ believe _this shit. I try to play hero and what do I get? A criminal record within the first few hours of being on this human-infested planet and being shoved off to live in the attic of a cafe owner. If I ever find that Ace guy again, I'm gonna-_

"So, how has life on Earth been treating you so far? Besides the false charges and resulting probation, I mean." asked a familiar voice. A familiar voice who's sudden return most certainly did _not_ cause Adam to jump and let out a startled yell as he whirled around to see an equally familiar face lounging on the couch. Yup, the demon child had returned. But, before Adam could say anything, he heard a fast paced thumping as Sojiro ran back up the stairs.

"What's going on?! I heard a yell." Sojiro asked, a worried look on his face, "Did you get hurt?"

"I, uh…" Adam looked back and forth between Ace and Sojiro. Confused as to why the middle-aged man wasn't reacting to the strange boy that had suddenly appeared in his attic.

"You didn't see a rat, did you?" Sojiro pressed, slightly calmer when he saw Adam wasn't hurt, but still obviously worried about the implications that could mean for his business.

"I-no!" Adam spat out, finally managing to form a coherent sentence, "I just, uh, thought I saw a person out of the corner of my eye. But it was just my imagination."

"Oh, good." Sojiro sighed, relieved, "I thought you saw a rat, or that something happened to you."

"Why do you care if I got hurt?" Adam asked, once more adopting a scowl, "Since I got here, you've given me the impression you don't care for me too much." Sojiro's own face went back to its former unfriendliness at these words.

"I only took you in as a favor, I only care because it would look bad for me if something happened to you." said the barista, "But if you're not hurt then there's nothing to worry about." he turned and left. Once Sojiro was down the stairs, Adam turned back to Ace.

"Okay, what the _hell_ is going on here?" demanded the bull Faunus, "Why can't Sakura see-"

"Sakura- _san_ ," Ace cut in, "If you're going to live in Japan, you need to have a good grasp on the honorifics they use."

"Fine, whatever." Adam waved it off, "Why can't Sakura- _san_ see you? Where have you even been? You throw me into this world, vanish, then reappear _now_ of all times?" Ace shifted in his seat and shrugged.

"Nothing interesting was going on. Now that you got sent to live somewhere else, I figured things would get… well… interesting." was the explanation he gave.

"You didn't answer why my new guardian didn't see you." Adam jabbed a finger at the blonde.

"Oh, well that's because I'm currently in a sort of separate plane of existence from you." Ace explained, "Normal people can't see it, but I cast a spell on you that allows you to." Adam was silent as he processed the implications.

"So that means…" he began slowly.

"You're the only one who can see or hear me." Ace nodded. Adam was silent again, before an idea occurred to him. That may or may not have involved strangulation.

"Can I touch you?" asked the former White Fang.

"Ha! No." Ace replied bluntly, "I just said I'm not physically present on the same plane as you. That means no one, with the exception of you, can see or hear me. However no one, _including_ you, can touch me and I also can't really interact with the environment. With some exceptions." Adam quirked an eyebrow at the last part.

"What do you mean by that?" the redhead asked.

"I can't really pick up objects, but I'm not gonna phase through walls or the floor unless I want to. Oh, and I still get wifi." Ace said simply. The two teenagers stared at each other for a few minutes.

"So… what now?" Adam asked. Ace shrugged.

"Well, you might as well get to cleaning since this is where you'll be living for the time being." he replied. More silence between the two.

"I'm guessing you're not going to help." said Adam.

"Bingo. But, I will answer any lingering questions you might have. Oh, and don't worry about Sakura-san hearing us. I put up a small spell, he won't hear anything except you cleaning." Even more silence occurred, before Adam sighed again.

"Not like I have much choice."

 **-Line Break-**

 **Interrogation Room**

 **11/20/20XX**

"Wait a second." Sae said, a confused expression on her face.

"What now?" asked Adam.

"Now you're saying that a literal demon child follows you around? And that you're the only one who can see or hear him?" asked the prosecutor.

"Yes." Adam replied.

"Is he here now?" Sae asked tentatively. Adam looked over to one of the side walls, and Sae followed his gaze. She didn't see anything, but Adam did. Looking at things from his eyes, Ace was leaning against the wall, thumbing through his phone. Sensing the twin gazes he looks up from the cellular device.

"Sup?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's here." Adam told Sae.

"Ooooo… kaaaaaayyyyyy…" Sae said slowly, leaning back in her chair and turning back to Adam, "What does he usually do?" Adam shrugged at the question.

"Sometimes he gives me advice, which has been admittedly helpful, and the rest of the time he observes my daily life and provides sarcastic commentary, thinking he's funny and that making anime and pop culture references means he's clever."

"Screw you, I am _so_ funny!" Ace called over. Adam responded by turning to the demonic teen and giving him the finger

"What's he doing now?" asked the gray haired prosecutor, who was watching what she could of the interaction.

"Ask her what the wifi password is." Ace told him, "I'm almost out of data for the month."

"He wants to know what the wifi password is." Adam communicated to Sae, who simply looked back and forth between the red haired boy slash alien and what she saw as an empty wall.

"Just… please continue with your story." she told him as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

 **-Line Break-**

 **Cafe LeBlanc's Attic**

 **4/9/20XX**

Adam scrubbed the dusty windows with with some supplies he found. Meanwhile, Ace played with a handheld game device. Adam had also changed out of the Shujin uniform. He now wore a red shirt with black trim under a black blazer, as well as blue jeans and brown shoes.

"So what happened to that guy that I supposedly 'replaced'?" he asked, "Did he end up on Remnant? Even though he's human, I can't help but almost feel sorry for him."

"Why's that?" Ace inquired.

"I learned a bit about Earth while you were gone." explained the bull Faunus, "And I can say with absolute certainty that Remnant is a total death trap compared to this place."

"What's this? Adam Taurus almost feeling sympathetic for a human?" Ace teased, ignoring Adam's growl, "In all seriousness, no. He's still here on Earth."

"He is?"

"Yup." Ace popped the 'p'.

"Where is he, then?"

"Back in his hometown, where I first dropped you."

"Wait a minute." Adam stopped his scrubbing, "Then shouldn't he have been there when I appeared on Earth? You said you put me where he was supposed to be." Ace looked up from his game.

"Yeah… see, 'replaced' may have been poor wording on my part. What happened was, I put you where he would have ended up… if he hadn't taken a wrong turn on his way home."

"A wrong turn…?" Adam repeated slowly, before something occurred to him, "Wait, you mean if he hadn't taken a wrong turn then it would be _him_ in this situation instead of me!?" he whirled around with an angry look on his face.

"Yeah, pretty much." Ace replied nonchalantly, "He seems like the kind of guy who would help a woman in a situation like that." the demon child shrugged, "But the fact of the matter is that you're here, and not him. But, hey, that's multiverse theory for you." Adam continued to glare at Ace, who simply ignored him and went back to his game, before letting out an aggravated sigh and continued scrubbing the windows.

 **-Line Break-**

After that, Adam gathered up the trash bags and put them by the stairs to be taken out. Doing this cleared him some space to start scrubbing the floor with a mop. While he was doing that, Ace sat up on a rafter reading a book and occasionally tapping at a laptop placed next to him. Taking a break from scrubbing, Adam looked up at magical teen, who was muttering incoherently.

"So, you're a demon?" questioned the red haired Faunus.

"Hm?" Ace looked up from his work to see Adam looking at him.

"Before, you said back on Remnant that you were a demon." Adam repeated, "What's that about?"

"Oh, yeah, that. Well, you see…" Ace trailed off, "In some ways, yeah, I'm a demon, but…" the magical teen sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, are you a demon or aren't you?" demanded Adam, causing Ace to fidget slightly.

"To be completely honest, that's always been a bit of an identity issue for us…" he said slowly.

"'Us'?" echoed Adam, "You mean there's more like you-" his shock was cut off by a sudden recollection, "Those two girls you sent to bring me to you. Poison and Celeste." Ace snapped his fingers and did a finger gun at the former White Fang.

"Bingo. Although, I should point out that there's actually four of us."

"Four?" questioned Adam.

"Uh huh." Ace nodded, "Obviously there's me, then there's my sisters, Poison and Celeste, and finally there's our brother, Ivan." Adam was silent for a moment before he resumed his scrubbing.

"Sisters and brother…" he mumbled, "So you are related."

"What?" asked Ace.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." the bull Faunus waved off the sort-of-demon's question, "I was just thinking about how that explained why you and those two girls looked so similar." This caused Ace to quirk an eyebrow.

"Well, _duh_. We're siblings." he pointed out.

"Well, I know that _now_." countered Adam, "Before I could only assume based on your appearances."

"Okay, yeah, that's… fair enough." admitted Ace, after taking a moment to absorb what Adam said.

"Anyway, I'm guessing your siblings can use magic too?" guessed the former terrorist.

"Correct again." Ace nodded, "We are the four strongest magic users of our generation." This claim made Adam quirk an eyebrow,

"The four strongest?" he repeated. Ace smiled and jumped down from the rafter.

"Yup."

"Which one of you is the strongest?" Adam pressed. Ace just shrugged.

"We're all equal." he said simply, "I mean, sure we have different skill sets, but ultimately we're all equal in terms of power." Adam processed this as he leaned on the mop.

"And if I were to try and beat one of you?" he asked, "Both of us going at 100 percent?" His question caused Ace to bust out laughing.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" Ace clutched his stomach as he laughed before standing back up straight, smirking and wiping a tear as Adam scowled at him, "Real talk? Comparing your strength against one of us is like comparing a hand grenade to a tactical nuke. And that's _seriously_ lowballing our capabilities."

"Like hell." Adam growled, there was _no way_ this guy _or_ his siblings were _that_ powerful. Ace just shrugged again.

"Deny it all you want." he said, "But the fact of the matter is that all four of us, each on our own, have traveled the multiverse and gone up against beings capable of destroying _planets_. And _won_. Hell, _I_ could destroy a planet if I wanted." Now, _this_ claim made Adam's jaw drop from the sheer ridiculousness of it. Destroying entire _planets_!? That was like something out of comic book! But at the same time… Ace's eyes held a seriousness held only by those that were telling the truth. That, and the claim was just so _outrageous_ that no sane person would make it unless they could back it up. Closing his mouth before a bug flew in, Adam shook his head and went back to cleaning, and Ace jumped back up to the rafter.

"This kid…" he muttered, "… Is going to be the bane of my existence."

 **-Line Break-**

Once the floor was scrubbed, Adam found himself staring at the box containing his things. He couldn't help but think back to his 'parents', who he didn't even know.

"How did you give me parents?" he asked, his gaze not leaving the box. He didn't know what Ace was doing, but still heard him answer.

"I planted false memories of your birth." explained the demonic teen, "I also had to edit their identification papers so that they read 'Taurus', then cast I cast a type of Glamour spell so that people would just accept it."

"False memories?" echoed Adam. He heard Ace sigh.

"Yeah, I knew you'd hook onto that part. I needed some help with that, to be honest. I gave your 'parents' false memories of your birth, and the neighbors false memories of your 'parents' coming home with you. There's a ton of other stuff I had to do, but I won't bore you with it. Bottom line, I gave your 'parents' false memories of giving birth to you 16 or 17 years ago, and then let their minds fill in the gap between then and your arrest themselves." Adam heard and processed the explanation, but didn't really react. Admittedly, he was still hung up on how his supposed 'parents' had reacted to him getting arrested on assault charges. And how they wouldn't even listen to him or believe him when he tried to explain what actually happened.

"-ay? Adam? Hey, Adam." the bull Faunus was snapped out of his stupor by Ace calling his name and snapping his fingers in front of his face.

"What?" he asked.

"I asked if you were okay." Ace repeated, a slightly worried look on his face. Adam quickly composed himself and scowled at the blonde.

"I'm fine." he snapped, "And I don't need your pity. Not when _you're_ the reason I'm even in this mess!" Hearing the sharp reply, Ace crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and smirked.

"I don't recall making you help that woman." he countered, "That was all you."

"Whatever!" Adam growled, picking up the box and putting on a metal shelf filled with bags of coffee grounds.

"I've been meaning to say, you look good with those shades." Ace commented.

"Shut up!" barked Adam, drawing a smirk from Ace.

"This experience will do you good, Adam." he mumbled, low enough that Adam couldn't hear, "We'll make a hero out of you, yet. I know it."

 **-Line Break-**

After setting up his bed with a sheet, quilt, and pillow provided by Sojiro, Adam stepped back and observed his handiwork. The floor and windows were clean. He hadn't organized the mess of books on the shelf next to his bed. He hadn't even _touched_ the desk. And there was a corner of the room where he had stacked the gas cans, some boxes, a ladder, a bike, a space heater, and the dying plant on a blue tarp. It wasn't perfect, but it was getting late, and at least the space was livable. As if on cue, Sojiro came up.

"The heck? I heard you making all sorts of noise, but I never expected that you would be cleaning." he said in amazement. Adam raised an eyebrow and scowled.

"You actually expected me to just live in that mess you left me?" Sojiro gaze Adam a small scowl of his own.

"Always with the back-talk." he grumbled, before looking around the room and nodding, "Actually, the place doesn't look too bad. I guess I should have expected you to want to tidy up." the barista admitted, "Well then, why don't you go to bed for tonight?" Adam shrugged.

"Might as well, not like I have anything better to do."

"Alright, well, I'm going to close up and go home," Sojiro told him, "If you get sick because you stayed up too late, I'm not going to look after you, you got that?" Adam grit his teeth at his guardian's words.

"I don't need you babying me." he told the middle aged man, _Not when I'm supposed to be twenty-three._ He added mentally.

"Alright, alright." Sojiro held his hands up in mock surrender and rolled his eyes, before turning and walking down the stairs. Waiting until the older man was all the way down, Adam went into his box of stuff and pulled out his pajamas and changed into them. Now wearing a black t-shirt and red sweatpants, he made his way towards his bed. At least, he was, before Ace dropped down from the ceiling in front of him.

"Gah!" Adam jumped, "Don't do that!"

"Sorry." Ace waved him off, "Oh, and by the way, I'm going to be taking down the spell that kept Sojiro from hearing us, so try to get used to me."

"So how am I supposed to talk to you without anyone hearing me and thinking I'm schizophrenic?" Adam hissed through his teeth.

"I'll set up a spell that basically sets up a telepathic link between us, all you'll have to do is think what you want to say to me. But I'm getting distracted, what I wanted to do was this." and he tapped Adam on the chest.

"What did you-" Adam looked at his shirt and saw that the front now had his wilting rose emblem.

"Figured you'd want that." Ace shrugged, "If you want it gone, just ask."

"I, uh…" Adam stopped, * _Thanks, I guess?_ * He thought.

"You're welcome." replied Ace.

* _Will you hear all my thoughts? Or just what I want to tell you?*_ Adam asked mentally.

"Just what you want to tell me." confirmed Ace, "Well, anyway, I've kept you from going to sleep long enough. You've got a big day tomorrow." and with that, he walked over to the wall. Then proceeded to walk _up_ the wall, transitioning to the 90 degree angle difference with practiced ease. Adam stared for a moment as the demon child made his way to the rafter again, before shaking his head and climbing into bed, taking off his shades as he did. He didn't go to sleep right away, but put his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened after he came to Earth.

 _Arrest…_ he thought, _Trial… Criminal record… Why did I step in? That woman was a human, and I didn't even know her. I had no reason to help her._

 **-Line Break-**

" _Damn brat! I'll sue!"_

 **-Line Break-**

Adam quickly shook himself out of the flashback

 _Still, I couldn't just let that go…_ he continued to muse internally, _Why? Why wouldn't my body let me leave it alone?_ Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard his phone go off. Fishing it out of his pocket, he narrowed his eyes at the screen.

 _That weird app again, I thought I deleted it? Whatever._ Once again, the bull Faunus didn't spare the app a second thought as he dragged it to the delete bin. Hoping it would be gone for good this time. Closing his eyes, Adam Taurus allowed sleep to claim him.

 **-Line Break-**

Eyelids snapping open, Adam sat bolt upright. Something was wrong.

"What the-?" he muttered, "Where am I?!" his pajamas had been replaced by stereotypical black-and-white striped prisoner attire. He could feel could chains and manacles around his wrists and another attached to his ankle, implying his attire would be complete with an iron ball. Looking around at his new surroundings, he found himself in a prison cell. The walls were padded and colored a deep blue. A toilet next to him dripped water, the noise echoing in the space. The bed he had been lying on had been replaced by a stiff metal cot bolted to the wall.

"What now?" Adam groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Good to see you're finally up, inmate." snapped a voice. Hearing it made Adam snap his head up and look towards the bars of his cell, just in time to hear a pair of footsteps approach, before he was greeted by the sight of two figures. Standing up and walking towards the bars, the red haired teen got a better view. Standing before him were a pair of young girls dressed in clothes that belonged on prison wardens. These outfits consisted of dress shirts that were the same deep blue as the walls of his cell, and both had matching black ties and black brassards on their left arm. They both also had black shorts held up by a single light blue suspender that went diagonally across their bodies, and on their legs were black shoes with white knee-high socks. More similarities included the fact that they wore dark blue warden caps, had platinum blonde hair, and each had a yellow eye. Not eyes, eye, singular, as they both also wore a black eyepatch that had a 'V' surrounded by laurel wreaths on it. That was where the similarities ended. For one, the one on the left had her hair pulled into two buns on either side of her head, and the other wore hers in a braid. Their caps were also slightly different, the left one's had 'X-M-R-N' on it, and the right one had 'O-Y-O-O'. In addition, their eye patches were on opposite sides, Buns wore hers over her right eye, and Braid had hers over her left.

 _This has got to be the weirdest dream I've ever had_ thought Adam, _and that's including the time I dreamt about that psychotic doctor who sounded like Blake, for some reason_

Walking forward, Adam grabbed onto the bars. When he did, the twin girls turned to face each other, and stepped back, causing Adam to gasp at the sight given to him. With his new point of view, he could see into a circular hub, the walls lined with cells identical to his own, each also had a number above them. And in the center, a man sat at an ornately carved desk. Said desk held a stack of paper, a lamp with a blue quill, and small microphone. And above the desk, suspended from the ceiling, were four loudspeakers. But it was the man himself that was the most shocking. He had long, spindly limbs and wore a black suit, black dress shoes, and white gloves on his hands that were folded in front of him. He had long, pointed ears, and bloodshot eyes that seemed to bulge out of his head. He had long white hair that was balding to the point that it made a ring around his head and his black eyebrows were long and bushy. The most prominent feature he possessed, was his absurdly long _nose_. Looking up at Adam's approach towards the bars, Adam could now see that his face also seemed to be stuck in a permanent grin that was so wide it almost looked painful. Holding out a hand to the teenage Faunus, the bizarre man spoke.

"Trickster…" he began in a deep voice, his lips moving but his teeth never parting, "Welcome to my Velvet Room."

 **(Begin Persona 5 OST: Aria of the Soul)**

"The you in reality is currently fast asleep." explained a voice that Adam quickly realized belonged to Braid Girl, "You are currently experiencing this as a dream."

"So this is just some crazy ass dream…" Adam muttered, putting a hand to his head, only to feel something very familiar, "Huh? My horns! They're back!"

"Who cares about your horns? You're in the presence of out master, so stand up straight!" snapped Buns Girl. The girl's tone towards him irked Adam.

"And why should I care?" he snapped back, "Your twin there just said this was a dream." His flippant response made Buns Girl stomp angrily.

"Why you-! When you speak to us, you will speak with respect, inmate!" she barked.

"And just why should I respect a pint-sized brat like you?" Adam questioned tauntingly.

"Why I ought to-!" Buns Girl started to shout, before being cut off by Braid Girl.

"Caroline, you mustn't let him get under your skin so easily." she gently scolded, before turning to Adam, "And you would do well not to antagonise my sister like that, prisoner." Just as Adam was about to respond, they all heard a _**BAMF**_ come from behind him. Turning around, Adam found himself looking at the resident demon child, Ace.

"Finally found you." he said with a smile, "I mean, your body's still asleep on Earth, I just felt… it's hard to explain. Now, where exactly did you end up? Am I gonna have to fight off Freddy Krueger or…?" Ace leaned to the side to look past Adam, and saw the twin girls. This caused a look of confusion to appear on his face, and when he looked past the girls to see Long Nose Man, his expression turned to one of absolute shock.

"No way…" he murmured.

"What's this?" Braid Girl blinked.

"Who are you?!" demanded Buns Girl, actually, hadn't Braid Girl called her 'Caroline'? Wait a minute, they could see Ace?!

"Adam is- but how? I didn't do anything…" the aforementioned demon continued to mutter.

"Hey! What's going on?" Adam demanded, "You know this place? You know these people?" Looking back to the redhead, Ace didn't seem bothered anymore (or at least he was hiding it if he was).

"Kind of." answered the blonde, "I'm familiar with Igor, at least. I'll just let him and his assistants explain." With that, Ace leaned back and proceeded to float in a reclined position. Seeing that he wasn't going to be getting any answers from him, Adam turned back to the inhabitants of this… 'Velvet Room', as Long Nose Man had called it.

"Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." said Long Nose Man, or 'Igor', as Ace had called him, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that those bound by a 'contract' may enter." he explained, before shifting his gaze to Ace, "Under normal circumstances, at least. Tell me, who are you?"

"Awww, you don't remember me, Igor?" Ace asked in a tone of exaggerated offense, even putting his hand to his chest, "You wound me! Although I guess with how much timeline hopping I do, I should have expected this version of you wouldn't know me…"

"What are you mumbling about?!" snapped Caroline.

"He kind of does that a lot, so you might want to get used to it." explained Adam as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, and what's up with your voice? Like, did you pick up chain smoking in the last…" Ace paused his inquiry when a slight look of realization dawned on his face, before shaking his head and continuing, "…Since your last guest?"

"Hey, that's our master! Show some respect!" Caroline ordered, stomping her foot. Meanwhile, Igor simply chuckled.

"I would like to ask how you got in here." asked Braid Girl, "You have not signed any contract." Ace smirked.

"Are you sure about that?" he reached into his pocket and brought out a glowing blue key that he proceeded to spin on his finger by the ring, much to the shock of the twin wardens. Even Igor seemed to raise an eyebrow.

"A Velvet Key…" Braid Girl murmured.

"So you were once a guest of this place as well." Igor mused as he crossed his legs under the table, "However, you still have not answered my question."

"It's as you said," replied Ace, "I'm a previous guest of the Velvet Room. Well, maybe not _this_ Velvet Room, but the point still stands. That aside, think of me as Adam's… probation officer. I'll be keeping an eye on him when he isn't here, in the Velvet Room."

"You're also the reason I'm even here in the first place." grumbled Adam.

"I see." Igor nodded, "Moving along, as your 'probation officer' said, I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well. I summoned you so that we may speak of important matters involving your life-"

"Like how I'm here even though I haven't signed any 'contract' either?" asked Adam as he leaned on the bars of his cell.

"Don't interrupt, inmate!" Caroline shouted as she swung at the bars with a baton, causing sparks to fly and Adam to jump back with a curse. How had he not noticed the baton until now? Now that he thought about it, Braid Girl was also holding something… a clipboard?

"Still, this _is_ a surprise…" continued Igor, looking around the room, "The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. In the past, this room has taken the form of an elevator and even a limousine… but to think a prison would appear… you truly are a 'prisoner' of fate."

"After being snatched from my home by this psychopath," Adam jerked his back towards Ace, "and everything that's happened because of it, it's hard not to think of myself as a prisoner. Although, whether I'd go as far as to say I'm a prisoner of _fate_ …" he trailed off.

"Do you not believe in such things?" questioned Igor, crossing and uncrossing his legs as he leaned forward. Adam remained silent, the question making him think back to when he was still on Remnant.

 **-Line Break-**

" _Tell me, Adam, do you believe in destiny?"_

 **-Line Break-**

"-ate, are you listening?! Our master asked you a question!" Caroline's shrill voice snapped Adam out of his little flashback.

"Bite me, shortstack." he replied as he turned his attention back to Igor. Caroline, in the meantime, had to be restrained by her twin while screaming obscenities.

"Regardless, there is no mistaking that ruin awaits you in the near future." continued Igor, who also ignored the girl's outburst, "I speak of the end to all things. However, there is a means to oppose such a fate." This _definitely_ caught Adam's interest.

"A way to take fate into my own hands, huh?" he asked, once again leaning on the bars to his cell as he smiled, " _Now_ you're speaking my language, old man."

"So that has caught your attention?" Igor chuckled, "Very well, in order to oppose such a fate, you must be 'rehabilitated'. Rehabilitated towards freedom. That is your only means to avoid ruin… Tell me, do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

"Allow me to add…" Ace spoke up, almost making Adam jump. He had forgotten that the crazy demon boy was here, to be honest. "If you do good enough work with your 'rehabilitation', as Igor put it, and become a better person, I'll let you go back to Remnant." Adam blinked, shocked, while Igor chuckled once more.

"Giving him a little extra motivation, I see. Very well. With all that said, will you, Adam Taurus, allow me to oversee your rehabilitation?" Adam took a moment to process all this. Agreeing meant that he would willingly have to protect humans from this supposed 'Ruin', but it also meant that once it was over, he could return to Remnant and never look back. He would never admit it, but part of him suspected that this would also have something to do with what Ace said about having a chance to become a real hero, and that made this whole situation a bit more enticing. Not that he would ever admit that, mind you. There was also the fact that choosing not to go through with this 'rehabilitation' meant that whenever this 'Ruin' occured, he'd be going down too.

"Guess I don't have much of a choice," the red haired ex-terrorist finally spoke up, "If it means avoiding whatever this 'Ruin' crap is, and being able to go back to Remnant, then fine. I'll do it, even if it does mean helping humans." Hearing his words, Igor nodded slowly.

"Very well, I look forward to seeing your progress." As he spoke, Caroline and Braid Girl moved in front of his cell, "Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others, you are already somewhat acquainted with Caroline, to your right, the one to your left is Justine. They serve as wardens here." Adam stared at the old man, before shifting his gaze to the young twins, clearly unimpressed.

"I may not be able to see your face, but I can tell you're doubting them because of their appearances." Ace chimed from behind him, "Word of advice, don't. They _are_ Velvet Room attendants. Speaking of which, how are the others?" he asked the twins. Adam blinked at the question.

"…What?" he asked after a moment.

"The previous Velvet Room attendants," Ace replied, "Elizabeth, Theo, Margaret, I mean, hell, I wonder what Marie's up to these days? Did Elizabeth ever free Door-kun-"

"Regardless," Justine cut off the demon's ramblings, "The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. Should you behave and remain obedient, we can also be your collaborators."

"Collaborators?" Adam echoed with a quirked eyebrow.

"I shall explain the roles of these two at another time." Igor explained, drumming his fingers on the desk, "But for now, the night is waning and our time grows short. Take your time, so that you may slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again." As if on cue, an alarm began to ring and echo throughout the room. Because of his Faunus hearing, Adam had to cover his ears, the noise was so loud.

"Time's up." Caroline told him curtly, "So hurry up and go back to sleep." The last thing Adam remembered was grabbing onto the cell bars before everything went black.

 **(End Persona 5 OST: Aria of the Soul)**

 **-Line Break-**

 **4/10/20XX**

The following morning, Adam woke up and got changed into his Shujin Uniform. All the while thinking about that weird dream he had. Trying to think back, he remembered a long nose, a prison, twin girls dressed as wardens, that demonic bastard Ace, and something about 'Ruin' and 'rehabilitation'. He sat on his bed, trying to make sense of it all, until Sojiro came up.

"Looks like you're up." the barista commented, having changed his outfit slightly. He didn't wear the apron, but instead opted for a white blazer and a white trilby hat with a red, white, and blue band. "Well, then I guess we might as well introduce ourselves properly to the staff at Shujin about your transfer. For future reference, it's in the Aoyama district. It'll cost you a bit to ride the train there, not to mention route transfers will be a pain." Adam crossed his arms and gave the middle aged man a look.

"What do you mean by 'For future reference'?" he asked, prompting Sojiro to sigh.

"Because, just this once, I'm going to be driving you. Now, let's go." With that, he turned to leave.

"I don't need you patronizing me." Adam grumbled, unfortunately, he wasn't quiet enough about it.

"You want to take the train instead?" Sojiro snapped, turning back to glare at the ex-White Fang.

"Dude, don't be an asshat." Ace chimed from up in the rafters, his voice unexpected enough that hearing it so suddenly made Adam tense up. Thankfully, Sojiro just thought it was because of his threat.

"That's what I thought." he said with a hint of smugness in his voice, before continuing down the stairs, grumbling about 'ungrateful' and 'disrespectful'. Oh, and something about 'men in his passenger seat'. Adam wasn't going to think about that last one longer than he had to.

"Seriously," Ace continued as he jumped down from the rafters and landed on the couch, "Dude was nice enough to take you in. I know you hate humans, but still…"

"Didn't I tell you not to scare me like that?" Adam whispered angrily. Ace just rolled his eyes.

"And didn't I tell you you don't have to rely on verbally replying to me?"

"Shut up." Adam grumbled as he put on his sunglasses and stood up. Being that he was already on thin ice with Sakura-san, he wasn't going to keep the man waiting.

 **-Line Break-**

Not too much later, Adam and Sojiro (and Ace) were walking up to Shujin Academy, a dull and dreary concrete structure.

 _It looks like a prison._ Adam thought humorlessly, possibly sweat dropping a little.

"Do me a favor, and behave yourself. Alright?" Sojiro told him, "And don't think that means I care what happens to you. I just don't want you causing _me_ any trouble." Hearing the red haired teenager grunt in what was hopefully affirmative, the two (technically three) entered the school.

 **-Line Break-**

A few minutes later, they were in the principal's office, which had its walls lined with trophies and other awards. Said Principal had introduced himself as Principal Kobayakawa. He was a very obese man dressed in a beige suit with a white undershirt and red bowtie. He was also completely bald.

"To reiterate, just so we're clear," he said to Adam, glaring at him like he was some unsightly garbage, a look Adam was used to, given his Faunus heritage, "you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems."

"So basically the same set up you have at Sakura-san's." Ace joked.

* _Shut up_ * Adam told the magical teen as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was actually feeling for his horns, he had been doing it ever since he woke up from that dream, but simply ran his fingers through his hair to hide the attempts, lest people ask what he was doing.

"Honestly, I hesitated on accepting someone like _you_ ," the fat principal continued, "but there were some circumstances on our side… You might have done a variety of things in hiding in your hometown, but you will behave yourself here. If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me." Adam responded, ignoring the warning look he received from Sojiro, who had been signing some paperwork. Kobayakawa shook his head in disdain.

"I'll always wonder where kids get their rebellious streaks from."

"I'll always wonder where your neck is." Ace told the fat man, taking full advantage of the fact that no one (except Adam) could hear him.

"Moving on, this is the teacher in charge of your class." Kobayakawa indicated the woman standing next to him.

"I'm Sadayo Kawakami." she introduced herself apathetically. Kawakami was a slender woman of medium height. She had messy brown hair that came down to her shoulders and equally brown eyes. Her clothes consisted of a yellow, long sleeved shirt that had red and white horizontal stripes and a denim skirt that went down to her knees. On her feet were a pair of white kitten heel shoes.

"Here's your student ID." she continued, placing the plastic card on the principal's desk for Adam to pick up, "Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office." Adam looked at the plastic card, as she spoke, it occurred to him that that wasn't apathy in her voice, at least not entirely, it was more like tiredness, exhaustion. Her voice made it clear that she'd rather not deal with him, but at the same time she didn't seem to outright despise him like Kobayakawa.

"And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all." she warned before turning to the obese principal, "…That _is_ your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?"

"He is responsible for all his actions." the fat man nodded.

"But are you absolutely sure I'm the best candidate for this? Surely there would've been someone better… " Kawakami asked, adopting a glum expression.

"It was a sudden transfer," Kobayakawa reasoned, somewhat apologetically, "And your class was the only one with an opening."

"If you're done with the explanations, do you mind if we get going?" Sojiro asked, "I got a store to get back to."

"Keep a close eye on him, Sakura-san." Kobayakawa implored, a hard look returning to his face, "Don't let him cause any trouble outside…"

"Eh, I've already limited the worst of what he can do." Ace chimed in, Adam hadn't reacted to it, but he magic teen had actually moved to where he was now sitting on Kobayakawa's desk, cross legged.

"I'll be sure to give him a serious talk about the situation he's in." Sojiro assured the obese principal.

"Come to the faculty office when you get to school tomorrow." Kawakami said with a sigh, "I'll show you your classroom."

"Now, what do we say to the nice lady?" Ace prompted the bull Faunus teasingly, "Repeat after me: 'Thank you Kawakami-sensei'."

"I'll do that." Adam answered the exhausted teacher, ignoring Ace's idiocy. Seeing that they had no further business, the barista, ex-White Fang, and the Sort-of-Demon-but-also-Sort-of-not-Demon left.

 **-Line Break-**

As Adam and Sojiro walked through the halls of Shujin Academy, the cafe owner came to a stop.

"They're treating you like some kind of nuisance…" he muttered aloud.

 _Being treated as a 'nuisance' isn't much compared to the discrimination I faced as a Faunus back on Remnant_ Adam thought.

"I guess that's what it means to have a criminal record." Sojiro continued, turning to Adam, "Turns out your past follows you wherever you go."

"If that was true, people like Blake and Cinder would be showing up anytime soon." Ace said, smirking at Adam.

"By the way…" Sojiro seemed to recall, "if you get expelled, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?" he threatened.

"I'm pretty sure I 'got it' the first three times you told me that." Adam retorted.

"I could save a little time and kick you out right now, if that's how you're going to be." Sojiro growled, he then sighed and turned away, "School never changes, huh… Come on, we're going home."

 **-Line Break-**

Less than an hour later, Sojiro was driving Adam back to Le Blanc. Ace was… somewhere, probably on top of the car or something.

"Ugh! Traffic's not moving at all!" Sojiro growled, "You're taking the train starting tomorrow." he told Adam angrily, before softening his tone a bit, "…So how was it?"

"Hm?" Adam looked at the middle aged barista questioningly.

"The school, I mean," Sojiro clarified, "Think you can manage?" Adam was, luckily, able to keep himself from jumping when Ace's head appeared, upside down, in the window next to him.

"Well, as long as no one bothers him, we shouldn't have to worry about attempted murder." he paused, "Hopefully."

* _Words cannot describe how much I want to kill you._ * Adam communicated to Ace, then speaking to his guardian, "I'll be fine, just as long as everyone leaves me alone." His words caused Ace to frown.

"You know, they say 'No man is an island', right?" Sojiro just rolled his eyes at the red head's words.

"Alright. Anyway, listen up. Don't even _think_ about doing anything stupid-"

"Or you'll throw me out. I _know_." Adam cut in.

"Still, you were already expelled once. To think you'd enroll at another one." Sojiro mused, ignoring Adam's attitude, "It's not like anyone will be sympathetic to you."

"Aw, don't listen to him, Adam." Ace piped up with a smirk, "I'm sure _someone_ might be able to sympathize. At least a little bit."

"I don't _want_ sympathy." Adam said grumpily, responding to both at once, "I want this ordeal to be over with so I can put it behind me and never look back."

"…If that's what it was like at school, people might say stuff about me in the future too…" Sojiro muttered, but it wasn't quiet enough that Adam couldn't hear, his Faunus senses helping a little.

* _Why does he care? I was the one that fat piece of shit of a principal was glaring at._ * Adam wondered.

"One's reputation is kind of a big deal, here in Japan." Ace explained from the roof of the car, "He's probably worried about what will happen to his reputation if word gets around that he's, in a way, associating with someone with an assault record."

"What a troublesome kid I've taken in…" Sojiro continued to mutter.

"I'm a delinquent, what did you expect?" Adam asked, crossing his arms, "You were aware of my situation. If you didn't want to deal with a 'troublesome kid', why did you take me in in the first place?"

"I was asked to do it, and I just…" Sojiro struggled to think of a reason for a moment, "happened to agree to it. I've already been paid for it too, after all." Adam raised an eyebrow and was about to press further, unimpressed by the reasons given and feeling that there was more to it, but the radio cut him off.

"Again, a subway has derailed at Shibuya Station, greatly affecting the timetable all across the-"

"…Another accident?" Sojiro wondered, eyes widening, "So that's why it's so crowded. There's been a lot of those lately."

"You think it'll affect you getting to school tomorrow?" Ace wondered aloud. Adam groaned internally and sunk into his seat a little. With all that had happened, Ace, the criminal record, and then that strange dream from last night, he could only hope that his probation would simply go along without any problems. If he was familiar with any of the religions of Earth, he might have prayed to one of their Gods that that would be the case. Not that that would have worked, anyways.

 **Author's Note**

 **And with that, another chapter of From White Fang to Phantom Thief. I've already replied to the two reviews on this fic already, so I'll skip that part for now. I will, however, put this out there: If you don't like this fic, don't read it. I am open to hearing what people think of my writing, and I'm even open to constructive criticism (Thank you Black Flame09), but if your comment boils down to 'your fanfic is shitty' and don't really offer many ways to improve (looking at you Angryboy13) then apparently you have to go back to preschool so that you can learn a little lesson about "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". Venting aside, if you enjoy this fic, be sure to follow it so you can stay up to date. If you enjoy my writing overall, consider giving my other fics a look. Also, be sure to tell me what you think, and as I said, I'm open to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. With all that said and done, see you all next time!**

 **-Finch Daemon**


	3. Chapter 2

**4/10/20XX**

Adam and Sojiro (and Ace) made it back to Le Blanc, but not before it was well into the evening. This had resulted in Sojiro complaining about how, because of the traffic, he hadn't been able to open for the day. Adam made no comment.

"…Whatever." Sojiro muttered, scratching the back of his head, "Anyway, head upstairs, there's something I have to give you."

"Alright." Adam replied, turning and walking up the stairs to his room, wondering what Sojiro had to give him. When he got to his room, he put his bag on a table that was kept next to the railing and turned around as Sojiro, who had taken out his phone to check the news, followed him up.

"What a gruesome accident." the barista commented, "Eighty people were involved."

"Eighty people, yeesh." Ace grimaced, before thinking of something and looking at Adam, glaring lightly, "If you say anything along the lines of 'who cares' or 'it's not my problem', I will personally come back to your plane of existence to bitchsmack you."

* _I wasn't going to._ * Adam responded while Sojiro put his phone away and brought out a small journal.

"It's a diary," he explained, "Make sure you write in it." the middle aged man ordered, before tossing it onto the table Adam had placed his bag on, "You may be under probation, but there's no special limitations on what you do in particular. Besides following the law, that is."

"Naturally." Adam and Ace responded in sync. Ace looked at the disguised Faunus with a smile while Adam just ignored him. Sojiro, in the meantime, had continued with his talk.

"However, I'm obligated to report on you, which is why I'm having you record your daily activities." This little tidbit made Adam cross his arms and quirk an eyebrow.

"So you basically plan on having me write the report for you?" the redhead asked. Sojiro scowled in response.

"Well, your options are to: A, write down your daily activities in your journal, which means I'd be able to allow you to go out and do normal teenager stuff. Or B, you have to come straight home after school and you have to stay at the cafe on days off so I can babysit you. And I think it's safe to say that neither of us want to go with option B. Am I right?" Asked the irritated barista, putting a hand on his hip.

"Fine, I'll write in the diary." Adam growled.

"That's what I thought." Sojiro replied. Just then his phone began to ring, looking to see who it was, Sojiro's expression softened and he picked up.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, in a tone much kinder than the one he usually used with Adam, pausing to listen to whoever was on the other side, "…I'm about to leave right now. Don't worry, I'll be there in no time." another pause, "…Uh-huh. I'll see you soon." finishing the call, he put the phone is his pocket and turned back to Adam.

"Who do you think that was?" Ace wondered.

* _What makes you think I care?_ * Adam asked back.

"Well, I'm off. I'll lock the place up, so do whatever you want for the rest of the night." the middle aged barista told Adam, Sojiro then started to head towards the stairs, but stopped, "Oh, but don't mess up my store. If something goes missing, I'll hand you right over to the cops." he threatened.

 _In order for me to steal something, you'd first have to have something worth stealing._ Adam thought, rolling his eyes behind his shades, "How stupid do you think I am that I'd risk doing that while on probation?" the ex-White Fang asked with a scowl.

"Always with the attitude." Sojiro grumbled, shaking his head, "Anyway, you've got school tommorow. So you better get some sleep." With that, he turned and walked down the stairs, leaving Adam and Ace alone.

"Soooooo…" Ace drawled, "Now what?" his question causing Adam to give him a deadpan stare. Why was he asking him?

"Maybe I should go to sleep." Adam responded, "Maybe I'll have another dream about a prison with little girls for wardens and an old man with a long nose who talks cryptically about stuff like 'ruin' and 'rehabilitation'." Ace raised an eyebrow.

"So you remember that place?"

"Depends." Adam said as he walked over to the table with the diary and his bag, putting the former into the latter, "If I do well with my 'rehabilitation', will you keep your end of the bargain and send me back to Remnant?" he asked over his shoulder.

"I keep my word." Ace replied simply. Deciding to trust the demon, not that he had much choice, Adam accepted this. Moving on to start getting ready for bed, he heard a phone start to ring. Looking at Ace, the blonde held up his hands.

"Not mine." Knowing that it wasn't his ringtone either, Adam remembered seeing a yellow payphone down in the cafe.

"Who'd be calling at this time?" the red headed Faunus muttered as he made his way down the stairs. Grumbling as he walked over to the phone, he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Yo, it's me." said a familiar voice on the other end.

"Sakura-san?" Adam guessed.

"Uh-huh." the barista confirmed, "I called to ask, I closed the shop but I forgot to flip the sign to 'closed'. Mind doing that for me?" Adam looked over at the door, the side that read 'closed' was indeed still facing the inside of the cafe.

"Whatever, sure." he replied with a shrug.

"Thanks. I'd do it myself, but it's too much of a hassle to go back." said Sojiro's voice, "I mean, it's not like anyone's going to think it's actually open, but still. I'm just glad I was able to reach you…"

"I can just give you my cell number and you can just text me this." Adam suggested, rolling his eyes.

"I make it a habit not to save guys' phone numbers on my cell phone." responded Sojiro. Adam actually took the phone away from his ear and stared at it with a "Really?" expression. While he did this, Sojiro continued to speak.

"Still, good job on picking up the phone in the cafe. I leave you in charge of the shop sign. Bye." Sojiro finished and hung up. Shaking his head in annoyance, Adam hung up the phone and did as he was asked. After he had gone outside, flipped the sign, gone back in and locked the door behind him, Adam went back upstairs and got ready for bed. Strangely, Ace seemed to be missing. And not in the 'He was currently hiding somewhere Adam couldn't easily see him' way, he was straight up gone. Not that it mattered to Adam, who got ready for bed and climbed in.

 _I'm going to have to take the train tomorrow_ he reminded himself, taking out his phone to make note of the route he had to take, _Yongen-Jaya… Aoyama-Itchome… Transfer… From the looks of it, I need to go out to Shibuya, then transfer there._ While he was doing this, he got a notification on the train accident. From the sounds of things, lots of people were involved.

 _Not to mention the accident's probably screwed up the timetable…_ Adam groaned internally, before something caught his eye, a familiar red-and-black app, _It's that weird app_ again _. Why does it keep showing up? I know I'm deleting it…_ The bull Faunus dragged the app, for the third time now, to the delete bin and made a mental note to reboot the device for good measure. Feeling his eyelids growing heavy, the redhead let the hand holding his phone fall to his side as he entered the realm of dreams.

 **-Line Break-**

 **4/11/20XX**

The following morning, Adam got up and repeated the routine from the previous day. Getting into his Shujin uniform, followed by sitting on his bed for a moment.

 _Gonna have to take the train today._ He thought while putting on his shades, _If I get lost on the way, that would just be the icing on the cake of this whole shitty situation. No use thinking about it, better get going if I don't want to be late._ Standing up he grabbed his bag on the way downstairs. Reaching the cafe, he saw Sojiro standing behind the counter, Ace sitting in one of the booths, and a plate of curry and a glass of milk set out at one of the counter seats.

"Oh, so you actually are going to school." Sojiro noted.

"Of course I am." Adam scowled, "You've already told me, like, five times that you'll throw me out if I cause trouble." The barista rolled his eyes at the teenager's sass but didn't comment, instead gesturing towards the curry.

"Whatever. Here, I'll feed you. Just make sure you finish before customers start to show up." Hearing this made Adam cross his arms and quirk an eyebrow.

"Curry for breakfast?" the ex-terrorist questioned, drawing looks from Sojiro and Ace.

"What's that reaction for?" Sojiro replied, "Just eat it."

"And what have I said about not being an ass?" Ace chimed in. Rolling his eyes at the both of them, Adam shrugged off his bag, placed it next to him, sat down, and dug in. As soon as the first bite entered his mouth, Adam's eyes widened behind his shades.

 _This…_ He noted as he took another bite, and another, and another, picking up a little speed, _This is really good! This is some of the best curry I've ever had!_ Quickly devouring the food in front of him, tasting the complex flavors within the bold spiciness, Adam could make out a proud look on Sojiro's face.

"Glad to see you like it." the barista commented, "Just make sure you don't choke, okay?" Even while pacing himself, the curry was gone in record time. Checking his phone for the time, Adam grabbed his bag and made for exit. Only stopping when Ace piped up again.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" the demon prompted, just as Adam's hand was on the doorknob.

"Thanks for the food." the crimsonette said curtly.

"So you do have manners after all…" Sojiro nodded, "Just make sure you're on time for school. You'll bet late if you get lost. Oh, and flip the sign to 'open' for me, will you?"

"Fine." Adam replied as he left, barely noticing Ace getting up and following him. After doing just that, he made his way to the subway.

 **-Line Break-**

Not long after, Adam Taurus found himself in a tightly packed train car, clutching his bag to his chest.

 _This is going to take a while to get used to._ he thought, before noticing a news report on one of the LCD screens. It seemed that there were still lingering effects of the incident from yesterday.

 _And on top of that, a bunch of lines are being delayed. Well that's just fantastic. Why not throw in some rain, too?_

 **-Line Break-**

Adam didn't know if Oum existed in this world, but he was sure whoever was up there hated him. Apparently, Ace wasn't the only one who wanted him punished for his past actions, if the rain was anything to go by.

"Well, this sucks." Ace noted, jogging to keep up as Adam run through the downpour, "For you, at least."

 _*I hate you.*_ was all Adam could think to say as he finally found some cover. Looking at his phone, which had the navigation app open, he ground his teeth in frustration. The train delays and the rain combined resulted in him running low on time to get to school. Hearing an, unfortunately, familiar beep, Adam looked at his phone and immediately wanted to throw it into high speed traffic. That damn app was back _again_.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he growled as the app once more expanded to take up most of his screen, "I do _not_ need this right now."

"Hm? What is it?" the magic blonde asked, looking over Adam's shoulder, "What's with that app?"

"I don't know." the bull Faunus replied, angrily trying to delete the app, "It just showed up on my phone the other day and it keeps coming back no matter how many times I delete it."

"You got malware on your phone _already_? What kind of sites have you been going on, man?"

"The only stuff I've been using this thing for is navigation and to learn about this place a little." Adam growled in response, smacking the device on his hand. Unfortunately, this only resulted in the the strange program opening.

"Worry about that later, you're gonna be late." Ace said as he moved away and looked around.

"How am I supposed to know how to get there if I can't see the map?" the ex-White Fang replied trying to close the app.

 **[Thank you for using the Metaverse Navigator App.]** came a digital female voice from the phone, **[Please input the keywords for your destination.]**

 _Navigation?_ Thought Adam, _This is a navigation program? But my phone already has one, and what the hell is a 'Metaverse'?_ As much as he'd like to figure it out, the teenage Faunus had more important things to worry about as he looked up from the device to see if the rain was going to let up.

"Oh? Who's this?" wondered Ace's voice. Hearing this made Adam look over and catch sight of the newcomer, definitely a female, if the body was anything to go by. She wore a Shujin Academy blazer, unbuttoned, on top of what looked like a varsity zip-up hoodie. Said hoodie was white with the bottom having a red stripe between two blue ones, an 'S' on the bottom left of one side, and a four leaf clover on the hood. On her legs were red tights and brown boots with yellow laces. In addition, she carried a Shujin bag, like Adam.

"Stupid rain." she muttered as she wiped some of the rain water off her sleeves, before lowering her hood. This revealed long, ash blonde hair tied into two big, bushy pigtails. As well as blue eyes, small circular earrings, and a yellow hair clip over her left ear.

"Where the hell did she hide all that hair?" Ace asked as he inspected the girl. Adam said nothing as he continued to stare at the girl, not that he thought she was attractive, even though she was. He would never admit it, but he was wondering the same thing. The girl, meanwhile, hadn't even noticed Adam was there, only turning around when she finally realized someone was staring at her.

"Hm?" She looked over at him, before blinking and developing a somewhat apprehensive expression.

"Eh?" Ace blinked, "What's that look for?" he wondered as he turned to see what she was looking at, and realized what the problem was "Oh, dude, ease up. You're kinda glaring at her." the demonic teen advised. Grunting a little Adam chose to simply look away, just as a car pulled up and the driver lowered the window. This revealed the driver to be an athletic adult male wearing a blue track uniform. He had a broad, square jaw and long, unkempt black hair and bushy eyebrows.

"Good morning, Takamaki." the driver greeted with a grin, "Want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late."

"Um, sure thanks." the now named Takamaki replied, walking over to the car and opening the door. Meanwhile, the driver shifted his attention to Adam.

"You need a ride too?" he offered. This caused Adam to adopt a scowl, the rain and train delays had already soured his mood considerably, the last thing he wanted was some _human_ patronising him.

"I'll be fine." he answered through lightly grit teeth, resulting in the man to raise an eyebrow,

"Well, alright then. If you say so." At this point, the Takamaki girl had buckled her seatbelt, so the man raised the window back up and drove off. As the window rose, Adam caught a look at Takamaki's face. The girl's expression was _beyond_ uncomfortable, indicating she wanted nothing to do with the man next to her.

 _Then why did she accept his offer?_ Adam couldn't help but wonder, before shaking his head lightly. No, he couldn't think like that. Getting involved would probably only make his situation worse.

"Did you really just do that?" Ace asked, incredulous. Before Adam could respond, he heard feet pounding across the wet sidewalk, heading right towards him.

"Ah, dammit!" came the loud complaint of the boy that had just run up, "Screw that effin' perverted gym teacher!"

"Now what's this about?" Ace wondered, putting a hand to his chin.

"'Perverted gym teacher'?" Adam wondered aloud, drawing the attention of the vulgar newcomer.

"What're you lookin' at?" the boy scowled. Now that they were facing each other, Adam got a good look at him. The boy had brown eyes, spiky blonde hair with a pronounced widow's peak, and black eyebrows, implying that his hair was dyed. The vulgar boy also wore an unbuttoned Shujin blazer, revealing a yellow shirt that read 'ZOMG!' underneath a comic style star. For pants he had the plaid Shujin uniform trousers, held up by a white belt, except the suspenders hung at his sides and the legs were rolled up a little. On his feet were white sneakers with rising sun flag motifs.

"Some blonde idiot running around screaming about a 'perverted gym teacher'." Adam growled back.

"Oh, so you're with Kamoshida, is that it?" the vulgar blonde questioned as he took a step towards Adam.

"Who?" replied Adam, turning to face the blonde boy fully. One could almost see sparks fly from their eyes as the two teenagers glared at each other. Adam had long since forgotten about the Metaverse Navigation app, and both boys were too preoccupied with glaring knives at each other to notice that it had reacted to the blonde's voice.

 **[Candidate found.]** it chimed.

"The pervert from that car." the vulgar blonde jerked his thumb back where the car had driven off, "He's the gym teacher at Shujin, how could you not have heard of him?"

"This is going swimmingly." Ace grumbled sarcastically.

* _Shut up._ * Adam mentally snapped at the teen magic user. Once again, the Metaverse Navigator app was ignored.

 **[Keyword accepted.]**

"Wait a minute…" Vulgar Boy said as he squinted at Adam, "I've never seen you around before, but you're second year like me…" Adam blinked.

"What?" how did this guy know he was a second year?

"Your pin." Vulgar Boy responded, pointing at Adam's lapel. Looking where he was pointing, Adam indeed saw a pin with '2' on it.

 _So that's what that was for._ Adam realized, returning his gaze to the boy, "Whatever. Anyway, no, I don't know who this 'Kamoshida' guy is. I'm new here."

"Oh, you're a transfer student." Vulgar Boy realized, easing up his tense posture and dropping the glare, "Sorry 'bout that." he apologized.

"Just forget it." Adam waved it off, "Look, I need to go, or I'll be late." the bull Faunus turned to leave.

"Crap, you're right!" Vulgar Boy panicked a little, "Uh, hey!" he called to Adam.

"What?" Adam stopped and turned back to him.

"Look, we kind of got off on the wrong foot, and neither of us want to be late. So how about I make it up to you and show you a shortcut?" the blonde offered. Adam was about to decline the offer before he stopped to think about it. Realizing that his options were to take the offer or risk getting lost and be late…

"Fine, lead the way." the redhead Faunus replied.

"Cool, follow me!" the blonde boy turned and dashed off, Adam following close behind. The blonde boy ran a short distance before turning and running down an alley, looking over his shoulder every so often to make sure he hadn't lost Adam.

"So you really don't know Kamoshida?" he called back.

"I'm pretty sure we already established I don't." the crimsonette replied.

"Man, I don't know whether to pity you or envy you." Vulgar Boy muttered. Adam quirked an eyebrow.

"Why's that?" This question brought a scowl to the blonde's face.

"'Cause it's Kamoshida. That perv's always struttin' around Shujin like he's the king of a castle." the blonde clenched his fists and grit his teeth as he ran, "Pisses me off!" he shouted, and for the third time, the Metaverse Navigator was ignored.

 **[Keyword accepted. Beginning navigation.]**

"'Beginning navigation'?" Ace murmured as he ran to keep up with the two. All of a sudden, Adam's vision distorted and he felt an intense dizziness, causing him to stop running and grab his head. Vulgar Boy must have felt it too, given that he also stopped running so that he could grab the alley wall while clutching his own head.

"Ungh, my head." he groaned, before looking back at Adam and noticing the shared dizziness, "You feel it too?"

"Yeah…" Adam replied, just as the sensation faded, "It's gone now…"

"That was weird." Vulgar Boy commented, "Whatever, seems we're both good to go. We don't have time to waste, come on." He took off again, heading towards where the alley led to the street, "Shujin's just through… here…" he trailed off as he slowed to a stop, staring in confusion at something.

"What are you waiting for?" Adam asked, annoyed, as he caught up to the boy, "Don't tell me you took a… wrong… turn…" the Faunus found himself trailing off as well as he found what the blonde was gaping at. It was a building. A building that was most certainly _not_ Shujin Academy. Instead, the two found themselves staring wide-eyed at a lavish castle that looked like it fell straight out of a child's fairy tale.

 **-Line Break-**

 **11/20/20XX**

"There was a terrible subway accident that day. I'm sure you remember it, don't you?" Sae inquired, "And I assume you know of the uproar that the public calls the 'psychotic breakdown incidents'."

"…Maybe." replied Adam, causing Sae to quirk an eyebrow.

"You say that like it's none of your business." she leaned forward, "It was all over the news, and one of the victims was a teacher at your high school. I've no doubt that you heard about it."

"Oh," Adam nodded, "That… Yeah, I remember that."

"On that day…" the prosecutor said slowly, "Were you still an 'ordinary' high school student?" Adam propped his head in one of his hands before answering.

"Define 'ordinary'."

"…Let me change the question." Sae said as she leaned back and crossed her arms, "You transferred to Shujin Academy, correct?" Adam nodded.

"An ordinary prep school that could have been found in any city…" The older woman continued, "…That's what it should have been. What happened around that time? Tell me everything-truthfully." Adam stared at the table for a moment, before taking a breath and continuing his tale.

 **-Line Break-**

 **4/10/20XX**

"Are… are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn?" Adam asked, still staring at the castle in shock and confusion.

"Of course I'm sure." Vulgar Boy replied, turning to look back the way they came, "I've used this shortcut plenty of times. So what gives?" he turned to face the 'school' again, and saw the sign in front, "I mean, it says Shujin Academy right there. You think we should go in?"

"Do we have much choice?" Adam pointed out as he began walking towards the school/castle.

"Good point." Vulgar Boy admitted as he followed the ex-White Fang.

 **-Line Break-**

Entering the castle, the two teenagers were greeted by the sight of an entrance hall with hanging chandeliers and paintings, pillars and floor standing candle stands. Adam noticed that every so often, his vision would shimmer, and the entrance hall would be replaced with Shujin's halls.

"This doesn't make any sense…" Vulgar Boy muttered, looking around, "This _should_ be the school…" pulling out his phone, he tried to check it, except…

"No service? Where'd we end up?" the spiky blonde wondered, before turning to Adam, "Hey, you saw the sign too, right? It said 'Shujin', didn't… it…?" Vulgar Boy trailed off, gaping at Adam, or, more specifically, his head.

"Yeah." the crimsonette confirmed as he continued to examine the room they were in, not noticing the blonde's stare, and, well, at least _trying_ to ignore Ace.

"I'm telling you, it was that app on your phone!" the demon kept saying, "It kept reacting to stuff you and that guy were saying and then it said 'beginning navigation' and what happens next? You guys end up here!"

* _And I'm telling you to shut up._ * the Faunus replied. He had no idea what the magic user was talking about, he never heard the app say anything. And even if it did, how could it do something like this?

"Dude…" Vulgar Boy said, shocked, "Y-you… you got…"

"All the stuff that's happened to you because of me, and you don't believe that app could bring you to a place like this?" Ace demanded incredulously, throwing his hands into the air, "For fuck's sake, you come from a world where people can have animal traits, soulless monsters want to kill everything, and everyone has their own personal super power!"

* _Will you just stop talking and let me think?!_ * Adam mentally shouted at the bespectacled teen.

"I'm trying to help you, goddammit!" Ace yelled back, his eyes starting to glow more brightly.

* _I don't want your fucking help!_ * the ex-terrorist snapped, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth.

"You got horns, dude!" Vulgar Boy finally blurted out, stopping the silent argument dead in its tracks. Slowly, Adam turned to face his fellow teen.

"…What?" he asked.

"For real, you got horns!" Vulgar Boy repeated, pointing to his own head for emphasis. Reaching up a hand for confirmation, the bull Faunus indeed felt the familiar curved horns he had possessed his whole life.

"They're back again…" he murmured.

"Huh." even Ace was surprised, "Now how did that happen?"

"Oh man, what's going on? Do I got horns too?" Vulgar Boy, meanwhile, was freaking out and feeling his head, "Do-do I have a tail?" he began feeling the seat of his pants and craning his neck to check, finally snapping Adam out of his little daze.

"No, you don't have any extra features." Adam told him, calming the boy down.

"Aw, geez…" the blonde muttered, rubbing his head, "What's going on-" only to be cut off as both boys heard clanking metal approach. Turning to see what it was, their reactions were pretty underwhelmed, understandable, considering all the weird stuff that they had experienced in such a small span of time. Anyway, walking up to them was none other than a large knight, wearing full plate armor, a blue mask that looked like a face, and carrying a broadsword and kite shield.

"Geez, you freaked me out." said Vulgar Boy as he walked up to the knight, "You a staff member or something?" The knight said nothing in response.

"Your costume's impressive, is that armor real?" he continued to try and get a response, before becoming slightly frustrated at the knight's continued silence, "C'mon, don't just stand there. Say something."

"…You are Ryuji Sakamoto, correct?" the knight finally spoke in a distorted voice.

"Uh, yeah. Why?" the finally named Ryuji confirmed.

"As I thought." said the knight. As if on cue, more knights showed up. Their sudden appearance made Adam and Ryuji start to back up as the knights made to encircle the two.

"What's going on?" asked Adam.

"I don't know man, but…" Ryuji responded, fear beginning to creep into his voice, "This shit's real. We gotta get out of here!"

"Get them!" the first knight ordered.

"Shit! Run!" Ryuji cried, he and Adam turned to make their getaway, only to be blocked by more knights that had approached from behind.

 _Dammit, if only I still had Wilt and Blush, or at least my Aura!_ Adam thought as he grit his teeth.

"Oh man, now what? What's with these guy- GAH!" Ryui started to say, only to be shield bashed by one of the knights and knocked to the ground. Seeing this, Adam turned to face one of the knights, readying himself for combat. Even if he had no weapons or Aura, he wasn't going to go down without a fight! If only one of the other knights hadn't blindsided him and smacked him in the head with their shield, knocking him to the ground where he felt his vision slowly go dark.

"Take them away!" commanded the first knight, and that was the last thing Adam and Ryuji heard as they passed out.

 **-Line Break-**

"Hey… Hey, get up." urged a familiar voice as Adam felt himself being shook from his unconscious state. Blinking his eyes and nursing his aching head, the crimsonette saw that he and the blonde from before were now in a dungeon as he sat up on the cot he was on.

 _There goes any hope of all this being a dream_ Adam noted bitterly as he fixed his crooked shades.

"You okay?" the boy asked.

"…Yeah." the bull Faunus answered after a moment, taking in their new surroundings. Meanwhile, Vulgar Boy walked over to one of the walls and slumped down on the ground.

"I already checked, there's no way out." he told the ex-White Fang. Ignoring his fellow teen, Adam got up and looked around the cell, hoping to find something the other boy missed. When he couldn't find anything after a few minutes, he went to the wall opposite the blonde and sat down as well.

"So, uh," Vulgar Boy began, "We never really introduced ourselves. You probably heard the guard from before say it, but I'm Ryuji Sakamoto." Oh, yeah, the knight from before did call him that, didn't he?

"Adam Taurus." Adam responded, leaning his head back on the wall.

"Taurus…" Ryuji muttered, "Why does that sound familiar…?" he wondered before shaking his head, "Ya know what, that can wait. You got any idea what this place is?"

"No."

"Yeah, should've figured…" Ryuji looked at the floor, then looking back up, "What about those horns you got? Any idea what that's about?" Adam didn't answer right away, mostly because he was contemplating what to say. How would this Ryuji guy react to the truth? Maybe he should just say he had no idea why they appeared. That would make the most sense in their current context, so it would definitely be believable…

"You know, stuff is going to get _really_ weird from this point on, so there's no point in lying." another familiar voice piped up. Glancing towards the cell door, Adam saw Ace leaning against the bars from the outside.

 _Not like I got anything to lose_ the ex-terrorist sighed internally.

"I have these horns," he pointed to his head, "because I'm not human, or from this world." Ryuji became confused immediately.

"Wha- 'this world'?" he echoed, "You mean Earth? You're saying you're not from Earth?" Adam nodded.

"I'm from a world called Remnant, where humans exist alongside the Faunus." the crimsonette explained, "People, like me, who are almost exactly like humans, except for that we all possess an animal trait. Stuff like a second pair of animal ears, a tail, or, in my case, horns."

"So except for the animal bits, these 'Faunus' are just like humans?" Ryuji asked, tilting his head. Adam nodded.

"Yes, but that hasn't stopped the humans from treating us like animals." he growled as he clenched his fist, "Making us their slaves, hunting us down and killing us just because we're different, and when we get supposed 'equal rights' after the Great War? They try to shove us all onto a small island that's two thirds uninhabitable desert and tell us to make do. Business owners get away with paying us below minimum wage and we have to pay jacked up prices for just about anything." Ryuji's eyes widened at the revelations of this rant.

"For real?" he said in disbelief, "All that, just because you guys got extra features?" Grinding his teeth in anger at the thought of it, Adam nodded as he couldn't bring himself to speak.

"That's effed up…" Ryuji said softly, casting his eyes downward, "What did you guys do about it?"

"We fought back." Adam replied simply, "At first, we used peaceful methods, like boycotts and protests. We made some progress, but it was only a small amount, and a lot of Faunus thought it was too slow, myself included. Then, a few years back, the old leader stepped down. The new one that took his place was more willing to let us get aggressive. Before, we had to meet hate with nonviolence, but now, when the humans tried to push us down, we could push back."

"What do you mean by that?" Ryuji asked, but before Adam could think of a response.

"Try not to leave too much out." Ace spoke up, before pausing a moment, "…Maybe leave out the part where you have a body count, though." Sending a slight glare at the magic user, Adam continued his little history lesson.

"What I mean, is that if a store refused to serve Faunus, we would burn it down. If a company abused Faunus labor, we'd hijack cargo from it. And you know what? These tactics _worked_. The humans finally began to recognize just how strong the Faunus are, and they finally began to treat us as equals." finished with his explanation, Adam gave Ryuji some time to absorb all this.

"So you must hate humans, huh?" the vulgar blonde asked after a minute.

"Yes." Adam responded bluntly, seeing no reason to lie about that. Even though he had, in fact, done a large amount of sugar coating by leaving out the bits where he had murdered plenty of humans and led a terrorist attack on a Huntsman Academy.

"Can't say I blame you…" Ryuji sighed, until he developed a confused expression, "Wait, then how did you get to Earth?" Adam silently stared at the ceiling before deciding to not beat around the bush.

"A crazy, magical, teenage demon child had his sisters abduct me. He had me sent here for my crimes against humans and Faunus alike, stating that my time spent here is to serve as penance while also serving as an opportunity to redeem myself." Ryuji stared at him, wide eyed, while Ace let out a low whistle.

"Didn't expect you to just bite the bullet like that." the demon admitted.

"You know what? After all that's happened, I don't have too much trouble believing that." said Ryuji as he held his head in his hand. Adam snorted in response.

"I haven't gotten to the best part, he follows me around almost all the time. But because of his magic, I'm the only one who can see or hear him." Once more, Ryuji gaped at the Faunus in front of him.

"Seriously?"

"Unfortunately." Before that conversation could continue any further, pained and tortured screams could be heard somewhere in the distance. Jumping to his feet, Ryuji runs over to the bars of the cell and grabs onto them with Adam right behind him.

"Oh man, now what?" At the same time, another group of knights walked up to the cell.

"Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon." one of the knights said, "You have been charged with unlawful entry, and so your punishment is death." Adam and Ryuji just stared at the knight, needing a moment to register what the knight said in such a nonchalant tone.

"Sounds like a real fair justice system." Ace commented sarcastically.

"Say what?" Ryuji asked dumbly.

"No one's allowed to do as they please in _my_ castle." came a new distorted, yet somehow familiar, voice. The knights then parted and allowed the teens to be greeted with a familiar face.

"What the- Kamoshida?!" Ryuji exclaimed. Indeed, the man they saw before them was none other than the perverted gym teacher that had offered Adam a ride only… come to think of it, how long had they been in this castle? Regardless, Kamoshida(?) was no longer wearing a track uniform. Instead, he wore a red cape with a heart print that covered his entire body and a small gold crown was nestled in his hair. There was one last difference, though. Adam didn't ever recall Kamoshida's eyes having a yellow glow. Not like Ace's fire-like glow, this glow was softer and gave off a much more eerie vibe.

"I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you, Sakamoto…" Kamoshida(?) mused, bringing up a hand to rub his chin. Doing this shifted his cape, allowing Adam to get a look at the clothes underneath. Or lack thereof, with the exception of red shoes and a pink speedo.

"That is not something I needed to see." Ace cringed. For once, Adam had no problem agreeing with him.

"You never learn, do you?" Kamoshida(?) smirked as he shook his head, before turning his gaze to Adam, "And you brought a friend. I guess you just can't do anything for yourself." Before Adam could deny being friends with Ryuji, the aforementioned blonde spoke up.

"This ain't funny you asshole!" he snapped, immediately angering the man in front of them.

"Is that how you speak to a king?" The adult shouted back, "It seems you don't understand the position you're in. At all. You sneak into _my_ castle, and then you have the nerve to _insult_ me - the king." the supposed king adopted a sinister grin, "The punishment for that is: _death_." At this revelation, Ryuji's jaw dropped while Adam gritted his teeth and clenched his fists around the bars of the cell.

"It's time for an execution!" Kamoshida(?) declared with a dramatic wave of his arm. Seeing the signal, the knights began to walk towards the cell. Adam and Ryuji responded by slowly backing away from the doors.

"S-Stop it." Ryuji said weakly, before working up a bit more nerve, "C'mon, stop it! If you're mad at me, fine. But let him go!" he gestured to Adam, surprising the Faunus, "He ain't got anything to do with me! I'm the one that insulted you!" The athletic 'king' looked at Ryuji with an expression that made it clear that he didn't care.

"He may not have insulted me, like you, but he still committed the crime of breaking into my castle." Kamoshida(?) replied condescendingly, "The fact that his crime is less severe is the only reason he's not going to be executed first. A shame that the same can't be said for you."

"Dammit…" Ryuji growled, before turning to Adam and speaking quietly, "Get ready to run."

"What?" Adam asked, taken aback a little. Even Ace raised an eyebrow.

"I'm gonna make an opening so that we can get out of here." Ryuji explained, quickly and quietly, "So get ready." While the two had their short talk, three knights got closer. One of them shoved Adam to the sidewall as they backed Ryuji into a corner. Even Kamoshida(?) entered the cell to watch the execution.

"No, dammit…" Ryuji growled again, clearly he hadn't expected the knights to separate the two, "I ain't down for this shit! RAGH!" he yelled as he charged the middle knight and hit it with a body slam, knocking it on its back.

"Come on, let's get out of- UGH!" Ryuji turned to Adam, only to be cut off by one of the knights that was still standing slamming the hilt of its sword into his stomach, sending him to the floor. While this happened, the knight that the vulgar blonde had knocked down managed to stand back up.

"Just go! Get outta here!" Ryuji shouted at Adam while clutching his abdomen.

 _You think I don't want to?_ Adam thought. He wanted to get out of this crazy castle, like any sane person would. The only problem was that no matter how much he wanted it too, once more his body refused to move. He urged his feet to move, over and over again, but they stubbornly remained planted to the floor.

"Oh? Running away, are we? What a heartless friend you are." Kamoshida(?) sneered at the former White Fang. Once again, Adam was about to deny being friends with Ryuji, and once again, Ryuji beat him to the punch.

"He ain't a friend…" Once more, Ryuji surprised Adam. This was, what, the second time the blonde had gone out of his way to try and save the bull Faunus? "Just go! What are you waiting for, get outta here!"

"Aw, what's the matter?" Kamoshida(?) taunted as the redhead still didn't move, "Too scared to run away?" Adam said nothing, but grit his teeth tighter and tighter as the 'king' mocked him.

"This is just getting disappointing…" Ace muttered, not having left his spot from leaning on the bars, "What happened to the fighting spirit you had back on Remnant?" he asked Adam, "Up until now, you've shown such promise. And you're going to just let that potential go to waste?"

"Shut up." Adam growled through clenched teeth. What did that demon brat even expect him to do? He had no weapons or Aura. The knights, meanwhile, had swords and spears, shields, armor, and were twice his size.

"How pathetic, you're not even worth my time. I think I'll focus on this one's execution." Kamoshida(?) declared as he turned his attention back to Ryuji. Within a few minutes, two of the knights were holding Ryuji by his shoulders while the third made sure Adam stayed put by holding its sword to his throat. Ace, meanwhile, seemed content to continue to stare at Adam with his scrutinizing, almost judgemental, gaze. Walking up to the restrained blonde, Kamoshida(?) broke out into a sinister grin as he pulled back his fist.

"Take this!" he shouted as he decked Ryuji in the face.

"Lowly scum!" he cried as he sank his fist into Ryuji's stomach. On and on he pummeled Ryuji, while the blonde himself couldn't do anything but groan in pain under the abuse.

"Useless pest!" Kamoshida(?) finished the beatdown by punching downwards on Ryuji, as he was hit the knights stopped holding him. Allowing the force of the punch to send the teen to the ground. Staring at the downed boy, Kamoshida(?) smirked before spitting on him.

"Hmph. Where'd your energy from earlier go?" he taunted while Ryuji stared up at him from the ground, his face covered in bruises. One of the knights picked him up by the back of his blazer.

"A peasant like you isn't worth beating." he decided as the knight tossed Ryuji away, "I'll have you killed right now." Gritting his teeth, Adam finally got angry enough to speak.

"This has gone on long enough." he growled, surprising the 'king' a little. Said 'king' turned to look at the Faunus with barely disguised contempt mixed with confusion at him having the audacity for such an outburst.

"What…? Do you really not know who I am?" Kamoshida(?) asked condescendingly as he walked up to Adam, bending over slightly to look him in the face. Adam met his gaze with a defiant scowl.

"That look on your face _irritates me_!" the 'king' growled as he brought up his foot and kicked Adam in the chest, knocking him back towards the wall.

"Bastard-!" Adam snarled as he sprang back to his feet and tried to charge Kamoshida(?). Only for two of the knights to grab him by the shoulders and slam him towards the wall, unhooking his shades from one ear and making them hang askew.

"Hold him there." Kamoshida(?) ordered before turning back to Ryuji, "After the peasant it's his turn to die."

"No…" Ryuji cried weakly from the ground as the 'king' laughed, "No I don't wanna die!" Adam briefly struggled against the grasp of the knights, quickly determining the effort to be futile. It was at that moment that things started to get weird. Well, weird _er_ , at least.

For some inexplicable reason, the entire world seemed to go dark, and the only light was provided by a glowing blue butterfly that fluttered in front of his face. Something about it was just so… _mesmerizing_ that Adam couldn't help but stare. He was so mesmerized he almost missed the fact that it started speaking to him.

"This truly is an unjust game…" came the voice of a young girl, "Your chances of winning are almost none… but if my voice is reaching you, then there may yet be a possibility open to you…"

"Come on!" Ace shouted, slamming on the bars of the cell and snapping Adam out of his little stupor, "Are you, Adam Taurus, really just going to give up that easily? That guy," he pointed at Ryuji, "has gone out of his way to help you, even though he's, well… mostly aware of your past and the fact that you hate humans, and you're going to repay him by doing nothing as he gets executed?"

Hearing this made Adam grit his teeth in anger. He was sick of this whole situation. First he gets abducted from Remnant and thrown into this world, then he tries to play hero and the thanks he gets is a criminal record, and now he's held captive in a dungeon while awaiting execution. Like hell he was going to give up that easily!

" **He's right."** Adam's eyes widened as he heard a deep, rich voice, holding a demonic, yet gentlemanly vibe, " **Are you simply going to watch? Are you forsaking him to save yourself?"** Adam looked around, trying to locate the source, but when the only person looking at him was Ace, who was looking at him with what seemed to be renewed interest, he realized that the voice was coming from _inside his head_.

" **Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision…"** the voice continued, Adam not needing to be told what 'decision' it was referring to, "… **A** _ **mistake**_ **, then?"**

To be honest, some part of Adam wanted to say yes. He got involved in a situation that didn't concern him. He went out of his way to save a woman, a _human_ woman, no less, that he didn't even know. His body moved on its own, he tried to play hero, and he got a criminal record for his troubles.

But, deep down? Deep down, he didn't regret it, for some reason. Up until he got arrested, helping that woman reawakened something. It reawakened something the bull Faunus thought had died a long time ago. Which was why when that voice asked him if he thought the decision was a mistake, he replied…

"…No, it wasn't. I _know_ it wasn't!" the ex-terrorist growled out as the knight that was with Ryuji picked him up by his neck and held the tip of its sword to his throat. The moment those words left his lips, Adam's pupils dilated as he was hit by a wave of pain.

" **Very well…"** the voice accepted his answer, as Adam writhed in agony. The knights that held him were unaffected by his struggle, and continued to press him against the wall, " **I have heeded your resolve."** As soon as Adam heard those words, his body went still before he slumped forward. Only to resume his writhing as he was hit with an onslaught of pain that was somehow even _more_ intense, to the point that he was screaming in agony as he thrashed about under the iron grip of the knights. Ace, in the meantime, smirked.

" _Now_ things are getting _interesting_ …" he mused as he rubbed his chin, "Show me just what you're capable of, Adam."

" **Vow to me."** the voice demanded as Adam continued to roar in pain, tears and sweat streaming down his face, somehow going unnoticed by Kamoshida(?).

" **I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice!"** the voice declared as it continued its speech, " **Call upon my name, and release thy rage!"**

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" was all Adam could manage to vocalize as his head felt like it was about to split open. Yes, he wanted to say. Yes, anything to make this stop. The pain, the impending execution, all of it! I'll do anything! JUST! MAKE! IT! STOP!

Evidently, this was good enough, because the pain ceased as quickly as it started, leaving Adam to slump forward again. Finally free of that agony.

" **Show the strength of thine will to ascertain all on thine own,"** the voice commanded, " **Though thou be chained…"** Adam slowly looked up, his eyes filled with rage and determination, "… **To Hell itself!"**

"Execute him!" Kamoshida ordered as he pointed at Ryuji with flourish.

"ENOUGH!" the redhead bull Faunus bellowed, making Kamoshida blink in shock.

"What was that…?" the 'king' said slowly, turning towards Adam. The knights that had been holding him let go of his shoulders and backed up a step. Even the knight holding Ryuji looked at the teenage Faunus in what was probably surprise, slowly letting the blonde to the ground.

"You desire to be killed _that_ _much_?" Kamoshida(?) asked with a sneer, before breaking into a dark smirk, "… _Fine_!" he then turned to the knight on Adam's left and jerked his head towards the crimsonette. Turning his head to look at the knight himself, Adam was just in time to see the knight pull back its shield and slam it into the side of his head, making him stumble and knocking his shades to the floor. This provided an opening for the two knights to push him back to the wall again, this time crossing their spears over his chest to keep him in place.

"Grrr… ungh…" Ryuji groaned, after the knight had let him go he had been leaning on the wall for support, but his legs finally decided that they had had enough and gave out from under him, causing him to collapse onto the floor. Kamoshida(?) chuckled darkly as he held his hand aloft. Seeing the signal, the third knight walked up to Adam and hefted its sword above its head, the blade gleaming in the candle light.

Suddenly, Adam's eyes snapped open as he felt some sort of power flood his body. The power-up was so intense that it generated a _mini cyclone_ , causing Kamoshida(?) to have to bring an arm up to shield his eyes. The knights were even blown back a few steps, despite their large size and their, no doubt, heavy armor.

 _That was weird, what was that?_ Adam thought, until noticed something was different, _Wait a minute… what's on my face?_ He wondered as he brought up a hand, his eyes widening as he felt a familiar shape and texture. He even recognized the way he saw the world, through two slots on either side. Yup, he had his mask back! Except, something was wrong… When he tried to adjust it, he realized what it was. He wasn't _wearing_ the mask, it was _attached directly to his face._ Through a combination of panic at having his mask suddenly grafted to his face, and some sort of… instinct telling him to do so, he immediately grabbed the mask with both hands and began yanking on it.

It hurt to do so, but he didn't care. He wanted it _off_. He _needed_ it off. After a few seconds of tugging he finally, _finally_ , felt some give on one side. Sure he felt a stabbing pain as some of his face skin tore off, but Adam _didn't care_. Using both hands to grab onto the loose bit to maximize leverage, Adam Taurus sloooooowwwwwlllyyyyyy peeled the whitish-tan mask, and by extension, his skin, off his face. As the blood ran down his face, and the pain began to subside with unnatural quickness, Adam couldn't help but allow a grin to split his face. He grinned as he felt that _power_ flood his being as his eyes, he would later learn, glowed an eerie yellow. It was then that the blood on his face burst into bright azure flame, gradually spreading to the rest of his body as the room was then filled with a dark and chilling chuckle.

The knights backed away as the flames formed into a long coat before separating from his body to form a tall figure behind him. Long, black chains materialized from the flames as they died down, revealing the imposing figure that they formed. The figure was tall, and very demonic in appearance. On its torso was a black vest, and over that it wore a white cravat on its neck and a red vest that had a high collar, gold buttons and a thin gold chain connecting the two halves, and sleeves long enough that they reached its hands, which had fingers tipped with wicked-looking claws. On its legs were long, red, high-heeled boots that had knife blades acting as heels. On its head was a _very_ tall top hat, from under which there were long horns curving forward. It's face was covered in a black mask that had eyes and a Jack o' Lantern like grin that glowed a sinister red. One last note, is that the figure was currently wrapped in the chains that had formed.

With a smirk, Adam grabbed these chains in his hands and tossed them aside, freeing the figure and allowing to to spread its large wings, covered in black feathers, which in turn blew the trio of knights back, smashing them into the walls and bars of the cell. While this had all been happening, Kamoshida(?) had fallen on his ass from fear and backed up until his back was against the wall, ending up next to an equally terrified Ryuji, with only the crumpled heap of a knight separating them. The 'king' didn't last long before he couldn't help but quickly crawl away in terror.

"Wha… What the…?" Ryuji stuttered, his voice full of fear as Adam stood before him with an almost crazed smirk on his face.

 **(Begin Persona 5 OST: Willpower)**

" **I am the pillager of twilight - 'Arsene'!"** The now named Arsene declared as Adam composed himself and turned to look at the demonic thief, " **I am the rebel's soul that resides within you, granted by another. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis."**

"So be it, I request that you grant me your power." the ex-White Fang asked.

" **Hmph, very well…"** Arsene agreed to Adam's request.

"Who or what the hell are you?!" Kamoshida(?) demanded, apparently having recomposed himself as well, "Guards!" he snapped, prompting two of the knights to quickly get back to their feet, "Start by killing that one, the… _freak_ with the horns!" the 'king' ordered, pointing at Adam, who scowled instantly at the 'freak' comment.

"I'll show you to call me a freak!" he snarled, clenching his fists.

"I know what can make this situation better!" Ace called out in a sing-song voice as he finally entered the cell himself, holding out his hand and summoning Wilt and Blush in a burst of smoke and fire before tossing it to Adam. Without even trying, Adam snatched the sword and scabbard out of midair. Just in time too, because the pair of knights proceeded to burst into red and black goop, the goop then turned into a pair of Jack O' Lanterns, each wearing a witch's hat and cloak. They both also carried a lantern with a floating white glove acting as a hand.

"You'll learn the true strength of my men!" Kamoshida(?) cried as the pair of Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniacs charged the duo.

" **Detest the enemies before you,"** Arsene explained, " **Change that animosity into power, and UNLEASH IT!"** he roared.

"Arsene, Eiha!" shouted Adam, don't ask him how he knew what 'Eiha' meant, he just did. Arsene obeyed the command by holding out his hand, generating a ball of red and black energy that was then used to blast one of the Crypt Dwelling Pyromaniacs back into goop that quickly evaporated. The remaining pumpkin-headed thing halted its charge and instead opted to shoot small fireballs from its lantern at the ex-White Fang. Adam responded by charging forward and easily dodging the attack, even managing to slice a fireball in half with Wilt. Almost faster than you could blink, Adam got behind the Crypt Dwelling Pyromaniac and slashed it with Wilt, before slowly sheathing the blade with a click.

"H-huh?" the Crypt Dwelling Pyromaniac wondered, before bursting into goop and evaporating. Arsene turned to Adam and nodded.

" **This power of mine is yours. Use it how you wish."** the Persona told him, before fading away.

"What… What was that just now?" Ryuji wondered aloud. Adam was about to say something, until Kamoshida(?) jumped in front of him.

"You little-!" he started to shout at Adam.

Only for Ryuji to jump to his feet and hit the self-proclaimed king with a sucker punch.

"Oh, shit!" cried Ace, bringing a hand to his mouth but still failing to hide his smile.

"Hah! You like that, you sunuva bitch!?" Ryuji shouted. Realizing they needed to capitalize on the daze Kamoshida(?) was in, Adam looked around and quickly spotted what he was looking for.

"Grab the key!" he urged, pointing at the ring of keys on the ground near Kamoshida(?)'s feet.

"Got it!" Ryuji replied, snatching the ring. The two then dashed out of the cell, with Ryuji pausing to close the door behind them and lock it with the key.

"Ok, it's locked!" the vulgar blonde reported.

"Damn you…!" Kamoshida(?) growled as he stumbled to his feet.

"Ok, now that that's been taken care of, what's going on?" asked Ryuji as he turned to Adam, "I mean, what's up with your clothes?" The ex-terrorist took a moment to get a better look at his outfit himself. In some ways, it was the same as it always was, but in others…

The most prominent part of his ensemble was his black trench coat. It was the same, for the most part. It was still black on the outside and red on the interior, it still had slit sleeves, the designs on the front left shoulder and the back were the same. What was different was that it was a lot longer than he remembered, to the point that it reached he ankles. On top of that, the coat was unbuttoned to reveal a dark gray, high-necked waistcoat with red and gold accents in place of his usual red shirt. His black pants also remained the same ,although with a new addition of a clip to hang Wilt and Blush at his side . However, his black boots had been replaced with what he would later learn were dark brown cuban heeled shoes. To finish the outfit, he still had the same black gloves that each had a bright red 'Ω' (Omega) on the back. His mask was also back, but we already knew that.

"I don't know," he muttered, "In a lot of ways its the same outfit I always wore back on Remnant. But in others…" the Faunus trailed off, looking to Ace for a possible explanation.

"Hey, I don't know how that happened either." the demonic teen protested, holding his hands up.

"Uh, what are you looking at?" Ryuji asked, looking back and forth between Adam and what he saw as empty space.

"The demon that brought me here." Adam responded without really thinking.

"You mean that thing you summoned back there?" Ryuji exclaimed as he jumped back, wide eyed, "I thought you said it was a kid!"

"I mean- it is!" Adam tried to correct his blunder, "That thing wasn't the one that brought me here! I don't know what that was…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head.

"I wonder what he meant by 'granted by another'." Ace murmured, thinking back to what Arsene said.

* _If and when we get out of this, you have a lot of explaining to do._ * Adam warned the teenaged magic any of them could talk further, the supposed 'king' grabbed the bars of his cell, startling all of them.

"Shit! We don't got time for this! We gotta get out of here!" cried Ryuji.

"Right." agreed Adam. The two then turned to run, except that was when Adam's new outfit decided to burst back into azure flame. It died down just as quickly, but when it did, Adam was back in his Shujin uniform, even Wilt and Blush were gone.

"Huh? They're back to normal." Ryuji noticed. Adam didn't respond, he was too busy looking at his hands and gritting his teeth in frustration. He hadn't realized until now, but back when he still had those clothes on, when he had summoned Arsene, it had felt like his Aura was back. But, now that sensation was gone, and he was back to feeling powerless.

"You bastards!" Kamoshida(?) shouted again, once more reminding the two of their situation.

"Oh man, we _really_ don't have time for this." Ryuji muttered, rubbing his head, "Look, we need to scram. _Now._ I'll let you lead the way. I just hope whatever it was you did back there, you can do it again if we run into trouble."

"…Right, let's go." Adam reluctantly conceded, before taking off. Ryuji quickly followed, but not before tossing the key ring off into a dark corner somewhere.

"Damn thieves…" Kamoshida(?) muttered as he watched the two run off.

 **Author's note:**

 **And done! This took more time to write than I wanted too, to be honest. I had actually thought that since I'm a high school senior and that since I get out earlier that I'd get more writing done on… well… all my fics in general, actually. So sorry this took so long to get out, I'll try to be better about this in the future. On to replies!**

 **Hadrian Kallig**

 **Heh, yeah. This is gonna be fun to come up with these interactions. Especially what Adam comes up with when establishing Confidants.**

 **Anonymous8888**

 **Glad to hear you like it. I do plan on continuing this, so don't worry.**

 **ARSLOTHES**

 **Yeah, I actually got the idea while watching SirLionHart's P5 playthrough. I couldn't help but notice that there were some similarities between Joker's outfit and Adam's, so I decided to write this. I actually think it would be cool if someone did something like this, but with Torchwick instead.**

 **Guest**

 **Glad to hear it!**

 **Guest**

 **Don't worry, I will.**

 **Cold White Album**

 **It just felt right?**

 **TheGrizz1982**

 **It's always great to hear that someone's enjoying the stuff I write!**

 **Okay, now that that's done, time for the sign off. If you like this story and haven't done so already, be sure to Follow and Favorite so you can be updated when a new chapter comes out. If you enjoy my writing, consider taking a look at my other fics. And as always, be sure to let me know what you think in the comments, I'm always open to constructive criticism! Until next time!**

 **-Finch Daemon**


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